Serafina's POV
Matteo stepped in front of me fully now, forcing me to look at him.
“Listen to me,” he said quietly while placing both hands on my arms.
His grip was not tight, but it was grounding.
“You are spiraling,” he continued while holding my gaze steady.
“I am thinking,” I corrected while blinking back the heat rising in my eyes.
“You are imagining every worst version,” he replied calmly.
“How do I not?” I asked while searching his face for reassurance that felt bigger than words.
He leaned his forehead gently against mine.
“Because fear is also a strategy,” he murmured while his thumbs brushed slowly up and down my arms.
“And whose strategy is it?” I asked softly.
“His,” he answered without hesitation.
That made something inside me go still.
“He wants us unsettled,” M
