"I'll be inside," Craig said, voice low.
Adriana gave a silent nod, watching him turn and walk away, each step heavy, like he was dragging something invisible behind him.
She paused in the quiet, stared at the spot where Merlina had stood just moments ago. Something didn't sit right. Not because Craig had lied, though he had, but because of how he'd lied.
He had said he didn't know her.
But he'd called her Merlina.
Not Miss, not you, not hey. He had said her name like it wasn't new on his tongue. Like it belonged to a story Craig didn't want her part of.
She replayed the entire interaction quietly, piecing it together with the kind of emotional intelligence she rarely got credit for.
