ELIANA'S POV
The question sat in the air between us like something alive, I looked at Cassandra while omething moved through me that I hadn't expected.
I wasn't feeling guilty and definitely not shame. Something closer to surprise. The specific surprise of someone who had been careful and still somehow been seen.
How did she find out.
The thought moved fast and quiet behind my mind while my face did absolutely nothing to reflect it. I had learned that particular skill long before Don's mansion, the ability to receive unexpected information without letting your expression submit an honest report about what it meant to you.
I held her gaze.
She was watching me the way cats watched things still and patient and entirely certain that whatever was in front of them had nowhere particularly useful to go.
She was waiting for me to crack.
Waiting for the denial or the explanation or the defensive scramble that would confirm everything the question had suggested.
