Then I hear footsteps in the hallway.
Liam enters first, and behind him?—
Luna.
She's smaller than I remember. All these years hearing about her, building her up in my mind as this larger-than-life figure who destroyed Lorenzo, and she's just... a woman. Beautiful, yes.Dark hair like mine but cut sharp at her shoulders. Green eyes that seem to take in everything at once.
Her hands are secured behind her back. Liam guides her to an armchair in the center of the room, positions her carefully. She doesn't resist, doesn't fight. She sits with the grace of someone who's been in worse situations.
Those green eyes find me immediately.
"Hello, Sophia," she says, and her voice is warm. Kind, even. Like we're old friends meeting for coffee instead of whatever this is.
The kindness throws me. I expected venom, or indifference, or calculated charm.
I don't know how to respond. My throat still hurts, but that's not why I can't speak.
"Don't talk to her," Lorenzo says. He still won't turn around, won't look at Luna or Bruno or any of us.
Luna tilts her head. "She's my only family left, Lorenzo."
The words land like a bomb in the room.
My only family left.
Lorenzo
I turn around. "Enough."
The word cuts through whatever Luna was about to say next. I'm done with the games, the careful dance, the waiting.
"You want to tell us about the child? About Riccardo? About how you faked your death?" My voice stays level, but everyone in the room knows what that costs me. "Then talk. Now."
Luna's eyes shift to Bruno. "Don't you want to?—"
"No." I step forward. "Whatever Bruno has to say, he can say it after. You start. Everything that has to do with you and me. From the beginning."
She settles back in the chair, hands still secured behind her. For a moment, she looks almost sad. Then she begins.
"I was eighteen when Francesco sent me to you." Her voice carries no emotion, like she's reading a grocery list. "My job was simple. Make Lorenzo Sartori fall in love with me."
Sophia shifts beside Vittoria. I don't look at her. Can't.
"That was my only job," Luna continues. "Making you love me would open doors. Either you'd marry me and secure an alliance between our families, or if you didn't want marriage..." She pauses. "I'd destroy you from the inside. Use what I learned, what you told me in moments of weakness, to tear the Sartoris apart."
The room stays silent.
"You fell for it." Not accusation, just fact. "You were careful at first, kept me away from your family for months. But eventually, you introduced me as your girlfriend. That's when I met Riccardo."
Her expression softens now.
"This might feel awful for you to hear, but it was instant. The moment I saw him, everything changed. I'd never believed in that kind of love before. The kind that hits you like lightning, rewrites everything you thought you knew about yourself."
I feel nothing. The words slide off me like water. She loved Riccardo? She didn't? I don't give a damn about her feelings.
"I don't care," I tell her. "I don't care if you loved him or if you were playing him too. I care about what Riccardo did. What my brother did when he knew you were with me."
Luna's eyes find mine. "He tried to stay away. For weeks, he avoided being in the same room with me. But I..." She trails off.
