Elisabeth's POV
"Mistake?"
The single word hung in the air between us, loaded with enough venom to make me instinctively retreat a step. His voice carried a weight that seemed to press against my chest, making it hard to breathe. I forced myself to swallow, searching for the confidence I'd felt walking through his door.
"Which part exactly is the mistake, Elisabeth?"
The way my name rolled off his tongue sent shivers down my spine. It wasn't really a question at all. It was a challenge, wrapped in silk but sharp as steel underneath.
Every carefully planned argument I'd rehearsed evaporated from my mind.
What had possessed me to think this would work? In the span of a single day since meeting him, he'd already risked his life pulling me from flames, and now tension crackled between him and my father like electricity before a storm. I knew my father well enough to understand that once someone crossed him, there would be consequences.
