Chapter 83

DANTE'S POV

I walked back into the banquet hall, the loud hum of voices and clinking glasses filling the air, but none of it reached me.

My mind was still reeling from earlier, from Linda’s stupid remark about Aria being Adam Griffith’s mistress.

I had brushed it off at the time, not wanting to show her that she had gotten to me, but now, as I glanced around the room and spotted Aria, that anger flared up again.

She was standing near the bar, talking to some old man. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Aria could handle herself—she always had. But as I turned to look away, something about their interaction made me feel… suspicious. The way she held herself, stiff and guarded, her lips pulled into that tight, polite smile she wore when she was uncomfortable.

And then Linda’s voice echoed in my head again: Mistress… Griffith’s mistress.

The thought made my blood boil. Heck! I felt jealous.