Serena:
Nico was the first to speak.
“You took his offer,” he said flatly, eyes pinned to the gun like it might go off on its own.
“No,” I replied. “I took the weight of it. There’s a difference.”
Matteo pushed off the counter, slow and deliberate. “You don’t carry something like that unless you’re planning to use it.”
“Maybe I am.”
Luca was already pacing. “We told you not to go alone.”
“No,” I said, stepping forward, “you warned me not to. I made my choice.”
He turned on me, jaw clenched, fury dancing in the tight line of his shoulders. “And what if he’d killed you?”
“Then at least I would’ve died on my feet. Not like some well-kept pet you let out only when you’re bored.”
The silence that followed cracked like thunder.
Nico stood now, slow and graceful as a knife being drawn.
