(Maria POV)
“I felt it!” he roared, his voice breaking, "I felt you pull away right as the bond clicked. You chose to break it!”
“I didn’t choose—”
“You did,” Luca said quietly, looking at her face accusingly.
She turned toward him, heart pounding. “Luca—”
“You could’ve stopped the ritual before it began. You let us hope. You let us fall deeper. And then you shattered it like it meant nothing.”
Maria’s throat tightened. “I needed to be sure. I wasn’t ready.”
“Then why say yes at all?” Joseph demanded. “Why let me touch you—kiss you—train you, bleed with you, burn for you—if you never planned to stay?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you!”
“You did.” Luca’s voice was sharp now. “You knew you would. And you did it anyway.”
Something in his eyes changed. Something cold. A wall slamming down
