Matteo-
43:37:50
Berlin Compound – North Wing
I didn’t follow them at first.
I watched the door close behind her—the girl who wasn’t supposed to come back—and for a full thirty seconds, I didn’t move.
Then I did.
The hall was too quiet now. No barking orders, no thudding boots. Just the hum of cold fluorescent light and the sound of a fuse burning in my chest.
They were in the debriefing room.
Luca. Matteo. And you.
Not a word spoken when I walked in. Just the shift of weight, the electric pulse of tension.
Ilya was in the center of the room, flanked by two guards and lit like she was standing in a confession booth with the wrong god listening.
She didn’t look at me.
Good.
I wasn’t ready to look at her either.
Because it wasn’t about her.
It never was.
You were at the edge
