~LAUREN’S POV~

The man in the suit moved fast. Too fast.

He barely touched the ground before he was at Alexandro’s side, leaning in, murmuring something low and urgent.

Whatever it was, it wiped the smirk clean off his face.

His jaw clenched. His grip tightened around the edge of the lounge chair, knuckles turning white. The muscles in his neck pulled taut, his sun-kissed skin stretched over something harder, something colder.

I felt it before he even looked at me.

That shift.

Like the entire atmosphere around him had changed.

The playful, arrogant man who had been teasing me just moments ago had vanished—replaced by someone else entirely.

His...