Rico's Pov
I stayed in the study long after Marco had left. The blinds were down so the room looked dark except for the dim desk lamp, but my mind wouldn’t settle enough to turn it off.
Marco's words kept replaying in my head, sinking into my bones like ice. I needed to find a solution. Of all the things I expected tonight, this situation was nowhere on the list.
I rubbed the back of my neck, pacing between the desk and the window. I should have gone back to Aria, at least to reassure her, but I couldn’t. My head wasn’t in the right place, and the last thing I wanted was to let her see me like this.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the one name that always meant reliability. He picked up almost immediately.
“Boss? Is everything alright?”
“No,” I said. “I need you back here as s
