Wait For You - 'Look After You' Sequel - A Michael Jackson Fanfiction

Chapter 26

Michael
-

Ramon had been gone five days in Chicago.

I knew he was back before the door even opened.

The Velvet Room throbbed below, soft jazz, low laughter, liquor pouring smooth over glass.

Business as usual. But up here, it was quiet. Still and heavy.

The way I liked it.

Ramon stepped in without knocking, a thick folder under one arm, the collar of his jacket still wet from the rain.

"All your reports from Club 30s," he said. "Floor performance, security rotation, staff compliance, ledger breakdown. Everything you asked for."

I didn't turn from the window. "And?"

He paused. Just long enough for me to notice.

"Security's tighter. Your men integrated clean. No issues. Evelyn's running the place like it's wired into her bones."

At that, I turned.

"Yeah," I said. "She would."

He crossed the room and laid the folder on my desk. His hand lingered on it.

"One more thing."

That hesitation didn't sit right with me.

I took a step forward. "Spit it out."

Ramon opened a slim envelope, pulled out a few glossy photos, and laid them down slowly, one by one.

"We clocked something else while we were there," he said. "Could be nothing. Could be a problem. Either way... I figured you'd want to see."

I said nothing. Just stared at the first photo.

Evelyn behind her desk. Lips parted mid-laugh. Something in her posture was easy and unguarded.

Luca stood across from her, too close. Hands braced on the desk like he belonged there. His eyes didn't leave her.

I flipped to the next one.

She was smiling. Not the cold, practiced one she gave strangers. This one was warm. Familiar. Quiet.

The kind of smile I used to see when she wore my shirt and nothing else.

Another photo.

Her hand on his chest. His on her waist.

That one made the back of my neck go tight.

"Looks like they're close," Ramon said, voice carefully neutral.

I didn't look at him. Just kept flipping.

Each shot worse than the last. The angle closer. The energy between them louder. Like the camera had caught something it wasn't supposed to.

"She seems happy," Ramon offered, gently.

I didn't blink. "Did I ask you that?"

"No, sir."

I took the photos in both hands, my thumbs dragging slowly across Evelyn's face.

"How long was this going on?"

"Not long. It could just be tension from running the floor together. Long hours. Late nights. Could be nothing."

"But it's not," I said, voice flat.

"No, sir," he said quietly. "It's not."

I stared at the photo on top. Evelyn's head tilted, eyes soft, Luca too close. Like the air between them had already made a decision they hadn't said out loud yet.