(Luca)
Alice moved too soon.
That was how I knew she had already lost.
Desperation always revealed itself in timing. Not in volume. Not in violence. In impatience. In the inability to wait for certainty.
She couldn’t.
Because certainty no longer belonged to her.
I was in the lower office when Vincenzo came in without knocking. He didn’t need to. His expression alone was enough.
“She’s acting independently,” he said.
I didn’t look up from the screen. “Explain.”
“She contacted three people she doesn’t usually speak to directly,” he continued. “All outside the house. All deniable.”
That got my attention.
I set the tablet aside and stood. “What kind of contact?”
“Concern,” Vincenzo said. “Framed as protection. Warnings about instability. About you.”
“And Aria?” I asked.
“Yes,” he
