A command wrapped in calm.
“Stay quiet.”
A breath.
“No matter what you hear.”
My mouth opens on instinct.
Air rushes in.
I crush my hand over my lips before a sound can escape.
Fingers shaking.
I seal my mouth shut until it goes numb.
Until I taste blood where teeth break skin.
The steps stop.
Right outside the vault.
So close I could swear if I leaned forward I’d feel breath through the seam.
A shadow bleeds beneath the door.
Man-shaped.
But wrong.
Too long.Too still.
The lantern casts him up the wall beside me in warped black strokes—head tilted, shoulder cocked, weapon low but ready.
Waiting.
Listening.
I slam my eyes shut.
Every ending explodes through my head.
Every consequence of silence.Of delay.Of the truths I never spilled.
My father’s face claws into view.
Giovanni’s voice follows.
The weight of everything I never said crushes down on my lungs.
On the other side of the wall—
I feel Santino.
Not touching me.
But there.
