(VALENTINO'S POV)
I'm running on fumes.
Haven't slept since morning. How can I when we're running out of the one thing we don't have anymore.
Time.
Five days.
That's all we've got until the auction. Five days before everything we've been working hard for either pays off or blows up in our faces.
So yeah. Sleep hasn't exactly been a priority.
The team's assembled in the living room. Angelo, Raffaele, Sandra, Leo, Bruno, Michele, Krystal, and me. Everyone's on edge except maybe Krystal. But she's not her usual self.
Shel's sitting beside me on the sofa, but she's not leaning into my side like she always does. No legs draped over mine. No absentminded fingers tracing my arm. She's stiff, arms are folded across her chest. Her eyes are distant, staring at nothing in particular like she's somewhere else entirely.
Out of concern I reach over to her, but the second I place my hand on her lap she flinches.
It's subtle but I felt it.
