NICK
I must be seeing things, that was the first thought that came to mind.
The moment was infinitesimal.
To the Governor, it was likely just a pause between courses.
To my father, it was probably invisible, buried under the weight of his own self-importance.
But I have spent my entire career reading the topography of the human face. I read micro-expressions the way a navigator reads a star chart, not as single points, but as a map of intent.
I saw it. A glance across the linen and silver. My brother and Cassian Wolfe.
It lasted perhaps half a second. It wasn't a professional check-in. It wasn't the CEO ensuring his assistant hadn't spilled the wine.
It was something wordless and devastatingly specific. It was the kind of look that only exists between two people who have already said things to each other that don't belong at a dinner table.
Oh.
It wasn't love.
I didn't believe in the romanticized rot most people use to describe attraction.
