ELENA’S POV
The room went very, very quiet.
Not the normal kind of silence.
The kind that presses against your ears until you start hearing your own heartbeat.
Someone I trusted.
The words didn’t even feel real yet. They just hovered there, suspended in the space between Giovanni and me like smoke that refused to clear.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
My voice sounded calm.
Too calm.
Giovanni didn’t answer right away. His eyes flicked towards Luca who was still asleep, mercifully unaware and then back to Dante.
“We shouldn’t say the name in front of the kid,” he said quietly.
A sharp edge slid into my chest.
“No,” I said. “You say it.”
“Elena…..” Dante started.
“No.” My hands curled into fists at my sides. “You don’t get to protect me from this part.”
Because if someone I tr
