Aria’s POV)
The strike didn’t come loudly.
That was the first sign it wasn’t meant for Luca.
If it had been, the night would have burned. Sirens. Movement. Retaliation so visible it would have echoed across the city.
Instead, the house woke to inconvenience.
A delayed shipment. A rerouted delivery. A single, carefully chosen disruption designed to test how quickly the machine corrected itself.
I felt it before anyone told me.
The air tightened—not with fear, but irritation.
Something had been nudged out of alignment.
By the time Vincenzo briefed Luca, I was already standing in the doorway.
“This wasn’t random,” I said.
Luca looked at me, then at Vincenzo. “Go on.”
“They wanted a response,” I continued. “But not from you.”
Vincenzo’s brow furrowed. “What makes you say that?”
“
