The air in the Thorne mansion foyer crackled with the tension of the unspoken word. Lysandra's violet eyes were fixed on her brother, waiting for him to complete the sentence, to give a name and context to the beautiful woman flanking him with a serenity that was, in itself, intriguing.
Fernando cleared his throat slightly, a mischievous smile still playing on his lips, but with a new nuance in his gaze as he observed his companion. "Lysandra, may I present you. This is Ruby, she's my..."
"Acquaintance," Ruby interrupted with a swiftness that surprised Lysandra. Her voice was melodious, with a slightly deep timbre that was strangely seductive, and an indefinable, exotic accent unlike anything Lysandra had heard before. She raised an elegant hand, with long fingers and immaculate blood-red nails, in a gesture that seemed to stop Fernando's introduction mid-flight.
"Yes, yes, acquaintance," Fernando stated immediately, though a glimmer of amusement—or was it something more?—danced in his hazel eyes as he looked from Ruby to her sister. The word floated between them, inadequate, almost absurd.
Lysandra didn't understand. Acquaintance? She looked at Ruby more closely, and the word seemed to shrink until it became ridiculous. The woman was a vision. Her light brown hair, almost ash blonde in the light filtering through the foyer windows, fell in perfect cascades to her shoulders, framing a face of almost unreal beauty. Her features were a symphony of delicate angles and soft curves: high, well-defined cheekbones, a straight, aristocratic nose, and full lips, painted a deep red to match her nails, that looked as if they had been sculpted by a Renaissance master. Her green eyes, piercing and intelligent, regarded her with a calmness that bordered on audacity. And her figure, wrapped in a simple dress that hinted at exceptional curves, moved with feline grace, with an innate confidence that radiated magnetism.
"Acquaintance"? A woman like that didn't go unnoticed; she wasn't just an "acquaintance" you brought with you from the other side of the world. Lysandra felt a wave of confusion, but also a pang of something dangerously similar to the intrigue she felt when faced with an ancient artifact with a hidden history. She remained expectant, her violet eyes fixed on Ruby, trying to decipher the enigma this woman represented.
Ruby, oblivious or perhaps amused by Lysandra's palpable confusion, didn't show the slightest discomfort. On the contrary, she seemed completely at ease, as if she were right at home. With a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes but curved her perfect lips enigmatically, she took an elegant step toward Lysandra, closing the distance between them.
Before Lysandra could react or say anything, Ruby leaned in and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't a shy or formal kiss. It was a soft, almost ethereal brush of her lips against Lysandra's skin, accompanied by a subtle and intoxicating perfume, a blend of exotic spices and some unknown night bloom. The gesture was so unexpected, so full of disarming confidence, that Lysandra was momentarily breathless.
When Ruby straightened, her green eyes met Lysandra's, and for a moment, Lysandra felt as if she were being sized up, read with a depth that unsettled her. But Ruby's expression remained kind, albeit with that veil of mystery that seemed to be her calling card.
"It's a real pleasure to finally meet you, Lysandra," Ruby said, her melodious voice filling the brief silence. "Fernando has told me so much about you."
The words were cordial, but the way they had been presented—that elusive "acquaintance" label—Ruby's almost regal confidence, her striking beauty, and that kiss that had been both intimate and distant, left Lysandra with a tangle of unanswered questions. Who was this woman really? What did she mean to Fernando? And, above all, what was she doing there, on the threshold of a house already saturated with secrets and unexpected revelations? The Thorne mansion seemed to have opened its doors to a new enigma, one with piercing green eyes and ruby-colored lips.