"You go back to Naples, remember who you are, and either stay in that life or try to leave it. You stay here and hope your memory returns on its own while we wait for threats from both your past and mine. Or we run, all three of us and try to disappear completely." I shrug. "None of them are good options."
"No."
"But there's something else we need to consider."
"What?"
I hesitate, then say it. "Elena. She's gotten attached to you. Calls you Daddy. If you leave, whether to go to Naples or because it's too dangerous to stay, it's going to break her little heart."
The pain that crosses his face is visceral. "I’ve already thought of that."
"And mine," I add quietly.
He looks up sharply. "Isabella—"
"Don't." I shake my head. "Don't say anything. I'm just—I'm being honest. Like you asked. You're not the only one who's afraid of losing what we have here."
"I don't have answers," Lupo says finally. "I don't know what the right choice is. But I know I can't make this decision without you. Without knowing how you feel. What you want."
"What I want?" I let out a laugh. "I want my daughter to be safe. I want to stop running. I want—" I stop myself before I say too much.
"What?"
"Nothing. It doesn't matter."
"It matters to me."
I look at him. At this man who appeared broken and bleeding in my field. Who became essential to me so quickly I didn't even notice it happening. Who is simultaneously the most dangerous and safest person I've ever known.
"I want you to stay," I admit. "Even though I know that's selfish. Even though I know it might get us all killed. I want you to stay and be the man Elena thinks you are. The man I—" I stop again. Shake my head. "But what I want doesn't change reality. Doesn't make the threats go away."
"No. But it matters." He leans forward. "Isabella, if I could stay. If I could be that man without the past destroying us, I would. In a heartbeat."
"But you can't."
"I don't think so." He runs his hand over his face. "I need more information. Need to understand what the real threats are. Whether the Florence family is actually looking for me, or if they think I'm dead like Ciro said. Whether Draco’s people are still searching."
"What do you want to do?"
"I think—" He stops, working through it. "I think I need to call Ciro. Get more information. Find out exactly how unstable things are, whether anyone's asking questions, whether there's been any movement from the Florence family."
"And then?"
"We make a decision. Together." He looks at me. "But Isabella, you need to prepare yourself for the possibility that I might have to go back. At least for a while. To stabilize things, to eliminate threats, to make it safe for you and Elena."
The thought of him leaving, of him walking back into that violent world takes my breath away with fear. But I understand the logic.
"How long would you be gone?"
"I don't know. Days. Weeks. Maybe longer if things are as bad as Ciro says." He pauses. "But I would come back. As soon as I could make it safe, I would come back."
"You can't promise that because you don’t know what will happen."
"No," he admits. "I can't. That world doesn't make promises. But I can promise to try. And I can promise that even if I go back, even if I remember everything—you and Elena are what I'll be trying to protect. Not my organization. Not my power. You."
I want to believe him. Want to trust that he won't get pulled back into that life completely. But I've seen how that world works. How it swallows people whole.
"What if you remember and realize you don't want this anymore?" I ask quietly. "This simple life. This farm. Us. You have a life there too. It must mean something to you."
