If he did, I’ll—
I stop.You’ll do what, Caterina?
But she’s whispering. “I came to help, Cat. Are you okay?”
Frankie glances at my face, then. Looks away. “Don’t answer that.”
Stefano hands me the bottle, his gaze assessing. “Frankie. What are you doing here?”
There’s familiarity there, and concern. I look between them. “You know each other?”
Frankie studies the grooves etched into the black bar. “You asked me once if Stefano was involved with what happened to me.”
He stiffens. I brush against him in silent apology. “He took me home. And he… he told my father that I needed to come to campus. That it would be good training.”
As free as she can be.
There’s color in his face when I look up at him. “I should have done more. But… you’re back?”
She swallows. “Not for long. But – long enough. Is anyone watching us?”
I glance over my shoulder, assessing. Stefano does the same. “Not closely.”
My brow deepens as she sets her hand on the bar. She spreads out her fingers, wiggling them so the pretty bronze polish shines in the light. “Pretty, aren’t they?”
A memory flickers. Buried beneath months of grief. “They – they are.”
She slips a hand into her bag. And I feel her hand in mine, uncurling my fingers as she slips a bottle into them and closes my hand around it. “A gift for you. So you can do yours.”
I grip the nail polish tightly. “I knew I made the right decision, appointing you.”
She smiles. Just two women in pretty dresses, chatting at a bar. Her voice lowers. “And you all said I wasn’t a fighter.”
I was wrong. Because this is more of a fight than I ever thought it would be. “Thank you. Now get back to campus.Please.”
Frankie Costa smiles. “I have to go. But… I’ll see you soon, Caterina Corvo.”
My heart thunders as she slips from her stool and walks away through the crowd. When I glance up at Stefano, there’s so much confusion on his face that a small snort of laughter escapes me. I look around. “Can you help her get out again?”
“I doubt it,” he admits. “My reputation around here isn’t great, in case you didn’t notice. But I can try.”
I nod, leaning against him. I don’t want to be here any more. But the alternative is far, far worse.
So we stay where we are. I sip at the water and watch the crowd, searching for glimpses of Luc, of Frankie.
Of Domenico.
I don’t see him, nor Matteo.
Eventually, I start to falter, and Stefano looks over the crowd. There’s relief in his eyes when he looks down. “I’m taking you back to your room.”
Not his, with that black canopy.
We walk back slowly. Two guards split from the crowd and follow us as we keep a careful distance from each other.
Stefano opens my bedroom door, but he doesn’t follow me in, his brows knitting. “I… it was part of the deal. I’m not allowed in. I already broke it earlier.”
When I was lost to my own nightmares. My heart sinks, and I nod. “I’ll be fine.”
