There’s silence in the room for a beat. The first time I went out of bounds was a test. To see the response time and identify the gaps in the system.
Which we did.
Which is why last night happened.
Last night was supposed to be another quick run to see if we’d mastered the system and cheating it.
Going to Elena’s was never the plan. It wasn’t supposed to happen at all.
But after sitting with her in that room yesterday, hearing her speak about her mother—the grief in her eyes.
I didn’t even plan it. I just found myself at her apartment, breaking in, waiting for the marshals to finish their sweep.
“It worked,” I say simply.
“Yes, and now we have another obstacle.” He runs his hand through his hair. “We weren’t expecting this beacon. Now we’re starting from scratch.”
I sip what’s left of my espresso. “We’re not starting from scratch. We got around the original system. Now, we have to take it one more step.”
He exhales. “And then what? You have more late night visits with thefederal prosecutor? She wants to put you back in prison, remember?”
“I remember,” I say mildly, starting to get irritated.
“Obvious,” he says, huffing out a breath. “If you get caught, you get thrown back in for violating your terms. And do you know who else gets burned?”
I do. I just don’t like the picture. “She won’t get burned.”
“Shewill,” he says, flat. “She’s not yours to protect, and you’re the last man on earth who can do it without ruining her. You climb one more fence, she loses a career. You get remanded. Everybody pays.”
I let silence answer. It’s better than the thing in me that wants to argue, knowing damn well I’m not on the winning side.
He rolls his neck like he’s trying to work a knot out. “Tell me I don’t have to say it again.”
“You don’t,” I say.
“Good.”
He leans an elbow on the island, studies me like I’m on the stand. “What are you doing, Luca?”
“Drinking coffee,” I say. It’s cheap. He deserves better.
“Luca, don’t play with me,” he says, exasperated. “Do you care about her?”
The question stops me in my tracks. I think of her voice, whispering in my ear. I think of her touch along my skin. The look in her eyes when she said she thought she’d have another chance with her mamma.
How she felt curled up in my arms.
I want to lie. I want to tell Roberto I don’t give a damn. It’s a lie. I know it. He knows it.
So I settle for not answering at all.
“Luca. By showing up at her place last night, you all but confirmed that the blip on the beacon the other night wasn’t false. You gave a prosecutor everything she needed to put you away.”
“But she didn’t,” I say. “I’m still here.”
“Yeah, for now,” he says. “What happens next time? What happens when you finally go after Dixon, and she has everything she needs to prove it was you? She’ll have to set you on fire in open court to save herself, and it’ll still be over for her. Don’t hand her that choice.”
“I heard you the first time,” I say, irritated.
