He waited, listening carefully, but no footsteps came from inside.
Frowning, Adrian turned to the lead guard standing rigidly behind him.
"Harry... is Matteo actually inside?"
Harry kept his eyes focused straight ahead, his face a disciplined mask. "Yes, sir."
Anxiety tightening his throat, Adrian raised his hand and knocked again, louder this time.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
This time, a few seconds passed before Matteo's deep, detached voice drifted through the closed door.
"Give me a second."
Adrian let out a ragged sigh and stepped back, waiting.
But a single second quickly bled into ten long minutes.
The heavy silence in the hallway became unbearable. As fifteen minutes turned into thirty, and thirty crawled toward forty-five, Adrian's exhaustion rapidly curdled into sharp, burning anger.
He had spent the last two days drowning in the grief of his past, and now his boyfriend was intentionally locking him out.
