The click of the front door closing behind them was definitive, a final, resonant chord in the symphony of Clara’s old life. The air outside Dante’s house felt crisp and clean, a stark contrast to the suffocating tension they’d left behind. For a moment, Clara just stood there, breathing in the scent of pine and damp earth, a faint tremor running through her. It was over. The marriage, the deception, the terror. It was truly, undeniably over.
Dante was the first to move, placing a hand gently on the small of her back, a silent guide. Kai, ever watchful, took the duffel bag she carried, while Silas, with a grim satisfaction, closed the trunk of the SUV, which held the few boxes of her rescued belongings.
"Let's get you settled," Dante murmured, his voice a low thrum against the quiet hum
