~ Niamh ~
"Enough!"
The word ripped out of my throat before I could even think to check it.
It was a command.
The room fell into a silence so sudden and so absolute that I could hear the rhythmic ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway.
Everyone froze.
I felt the heat of a dozen stares landing on me, but I didn't cower. Instead I stood up from the velvet armchair, my legs shaking but my spine as rigid as a steel rod.
"Enough of this bloody nonsense," I snapped, my eyes darting between Massimo and Cristiano. "Both of you. Stop acting like I'm not standing right here. Stop talking about me like I'm some fucking commodity to be won in a poker game and start treating me like a fucking human being."
Cristiano's smirk faltered, and the vein in Massimo's neck began throbbing.
