Chapter 82 Eighty Two

Chapter 82 Eighty Two
Mira had barely finished getting dressed when the sound of voices drifting up from downstairs caught her attention, followed by the distant sound of the mansion gates opening and closing. She walked toward the window, wondering what was happening, only to hear a woman’s voice carrying clearly from beyond the gates.
“Mira Voss,” the woman called. “Tell your boss he knows me. I need to speak with Mira.”
Mira froze.
She knew that voice.
Before she could process what Anna was doing here, hurried footsteps echoed through the hallway and a knock sounded on her bedroom door.
“Hello, Miss, it’s Lena.”
“Come in,” Mira replied, turning away from the window.
Lena stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind her. “Miss, there’s a lady outside asking to see you.”
Mira frowned. “Who?”
“She said her name is Anna.”
Mira went completely still.
For several seconds, she simply stared at Lena as the name repeated itself inside her head. Anna. She had been avoiding her calls since the party, ignoring every message because she already knew what Anna would say. She would tell her to leave, remind her how dangerous Salvatore was, and probably demand that she come back immediately, but she had never expected Anna to actually come here.
“She’s outside?” Mira asked, her voice dropping.
Lena nodded. “At the gate. The guards wouldn’t let her in, but she kept insisting that she knows you and that Mr. Corvin knows her.”
Mira’s stomach tightened.
“Why would she come here?” she muttered, more to herself than Lena.
“I don’t know, Miss, but she looked very worried.”
Mira returned to the window and looked down toward the gates, although she was too far away to make out Anna clearly. Her mind raced as she tried to understand what could have possibly brought her here after everything that had happened. Anna knew exactly how dangerous Salvatore was, and she knew Mira was already putting herself in enough danger by staying inside his mansion, yet somehow she had come straight to his doorstep.
“She shouldn’t be here,” Mira whispered.
Lena shifted nervously. “Should I tell the guards to send her away?”
Mira hesitated. A part of her wanted to tell Lena to do exactly that, because the last thing she needed was Anna walking into Salvatore’s world and exposing herself to the same danger Mira had been living with. But something about Anna coming all the way here made the uneasiness in her chest grow stronger.
“Did she say why she wanted to see me?”
“She said it was important and that she needed to speak with you personally.”
Mira slowly exhaled, her fingers tightening around the edge of the curtain. “Stubborn Anna.”
Lena watched her carefully. “What do you want me to do?”
“Tell the guards not to let her leave. I’m coming down.”
Lena’s eyes widened. “You’re going to meet her?”
“Yes.”
“Miss, maybe you shouldn’t. If Mr. Corvin finds out she came here without his permission…”
“I know,” Mira interrupted quietly. “That’s exactly why I need to get to her before he decides to find out himself.”
Lena swallowed and nodded before hurrying out of the room.
Mira remained by the window for another moment, staring toward the gates as a strange feeling settled over her. Anna had never been reckless. She knew the risks, knew the kind of man Salvatore was supposed to be, and would never willingly put herself in his path without a reason.
Something was wrong.
She turned away from the window and quickly left the room.
Her thoughts were all over the place as she hurried downstairs, trying to figure out what Anna could possibly want and why she had chosen the worst possible place to have this conversation. By the time she reached the bottom of the staircase, her heartbeat was already pounding.
Then she stopped. Anna was no longer at the gate.
She was standing in the foyer. And she wasn’t alone.
Salvatore stood beside her, dressed in a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, his injured shoulder carefully concealed beneath the fabric. His posture looked relaxed, almost casual, but his attention was fixed on Mira.
The moment their eyes met, the corner of his mouth lifted.
“Oh, there she is,” Salvatore said smoothly. “You have a visitor.”
Mira swallowed hard.
Her gaze immediately shifted to Anna.
Anna looked just as tense as she felt.
Mira’s stomach twisted. Anna being here didn’t just put her own life at risk. It put Anna’s life at risk too. Salvatore glanced between the two women, seemingly amused by the silence hanging between them.
“I never knew you were friends with Anna Bordon from Truthscope,” he said.
Mira’s stared at him.
He knew. Of course he knew.
There was no way Salvatore Corvin would have allowed a stranger to walk into his mansion without knowing exactly who she was. He probably knew Anna’s name, her position at Truthscope, her connection to Mira, and possibly every conversation they had ever had.
So why was he pretending otherwise?
Mira looked at him carefully.
His expression remained calm, almost innocent.
Nobody said a word.
Anna remained silent, her eyes moving between Mira and Salvatore.
Mira could hear the faint ticking of the grandfather clock somewhere in the mansion, each second stretching the silence thinner.
Salvatore finally broke it.
Mira glanced at Anna, then back at Salvatore, her stomach tightening as the silence between the three of them stretched. Anna looked just as tense, her eyes moving cautiously between them, while Salvatore remained completely calm, almost as though he were enjoying the discomfort he had created.
“You know what,” Salvatore said, breaking the silence, his gaze still fixed on Anna. “Why don’t you join us for breakfast?”
Mira’s eyes widened slightly.
“We didn’t really get the chance to speak at the party,” he continued, his tone almost casual as he gestured toward the dining room. “And, as you must have heard, I was shot.”
Anna’s expression remained guarded. “I heard.”
Salvatore smiled faintly. “Then you must have been worried.”
“Very,” Anna replied, though there was no warmth in her voice.
Mira swallowed hard. She knew exactly what Salvatore was doing. He already knew who Anna was. He knew she worked at Truthscope, knew she was connected to her, and probably knew far more than either of them wanted him to. Yet he was standing there pretending they were strangers meeting for the first time.
That was what frightened her most. She could handle Salvatore when he was angry. She could handle his threats, his arrogance, even his unpredictable behavior.
But this calm version of him was different.
He was scary this way . And whatever was going through his mind, Mira had a terrible feeling she wasn’t going to like it.
Salvatore turned toward the dining room and gestured for them to follow. “Come on. I’m sure we have plenty to talk about.”
Anna looked at Mira. Mira gave her the smallest shake of her head, silently warning her not to say anything.
Salvatore noticed.
His smile widened slightly. “Unless,” he said, looking between them, “there’s something you two would rather discuss privately.”