After Michello left, neither Lokie nor Enzo made any move toward the other. The silence between them stretched thick and heavy, like an invisible wall neither wanted to touch.
Enzo retreated to his study, the heavy door clicking shut behind him. He stayed buried there for the rest of the day, voice low and commanding on call after call, orchestrating every detail to ensure the mission went exactly as planned.
Lokie, meanwhile, paced the confines of her room like a caged animal.
She flipped through books without reading a single line, stared out the window at nothing, and fidgeted with anything within reach—anything to keep the boredom from crawling under her skin and driving her mad.
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Enzo finally emerged from the study long after night had fallen, shoulders sagging with exhaustio
