“Mia’s still awake,” Marco said.“She heard us come in.”
“Let her think I’m working,” I murmured.
He hesitated.“Enrico—there’s more.Someone’s been watching the house.We caught a car parked a block away last night.Same one tonight.”
I turned, the weight of the words grounding me in something cold and certain.“License?”
“None.Plates are fake.”
“Good.It means they want to be seen.”
Marco nodded once and left.
I stood there for a long moment, listening to the rain.Then, from the hallway, the sound of bare feet—soft, uncertain.“Enrico?”Her voice.My undoing.I turned.Mia stood in the doorway, wearing another of my shirts, her hair spilling wild over her shoulders.The sight nearly unmade me.
“Couldn’t sleep,” she said.“Every time I close my eyes, I see their faces.And then I see you.The two things overlap until I don’t know which scares me more.”
I crossed the room slowly, stopping just short of her.“You should be resting.”
“So should you.”Her gaze flicked to the desk, to the note.“What is that?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
She arched an eyebrow.“You always say that before something explodes.”
“Mia—”
“No, don’tMiame.”She stepped closer, her voice trembling—not with fear, but with exhaustion.“You can’t keep shouldering everything alone.If this is about your father, or the person responsible, or whatever vendetta’s bleeding through the cracks—tell me.Don’t lie to me to keep me safe.That’s not safety.That’s control.”
The word hit like a whip.Control.My father’s favorite word.His gospel.
I exhaled through my teeth and leaned in, pressing my forehead to hers.“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
I opened my mouth—but the sharp buzz of my phone cut through the air like a blade.
Mia froze.“Don’t answer it.”
“I have to.”
I stepped away, picking up the phone from the desk and putting it on speaker.The number was blocked.My pulse slowed, every instinct shifting.
“Di Fiore,” a distorted voice said.“How’s the wife?”
I didn’t answer.
“She’s lovely, by the way.Reminds me of her mother.”
My blood turned to ice.“Who is this?”
A low chuckle.“A ghost.One your father failed to bury from his past.Tell Mia we’ll be seeing her soon.”
The line went dead.
29
MIA
