I told myself he was delirious.
Dying.
Speaking in riddles.
But now?
The words land like a prophecy.
I step back from the sarcophagus, heart pounding hard enough I feel it in my teeth.
Romeo watches me—quiet, too quiet—like he knows exactly what’s uncoiling in my chest. Like he knows something inside me has just snapped into place.
He doesn’t speak.
He doesn’t have to.
The truth is already bleeding out between us.
Whatever Giovanni hid — whatever he locked away — whoever stole that key—
It’s tied to the threats creeping within these walls.To Pia.To the faction hunting her.To everything unraveling around me.
And the worst part?
If someone stole that key once…
Someone close to us was already inside these walls long before tonight.
The crypt feels colder.The shadows feel closer.The air feels heavier.
Giovanni didn’t take his secrets to the grave.
He left them waiting.
And now — they’re waking up.
Brothers Break
Something snaps inside me before Romeo even finishes speaking.
I don’t think.I move.
My fist grips his shirt, and I slam him backward so hard his spine cracks against Giovanni’s sarcophagus. The marble rings out under the impact—cold, unforgiving, just like the man buried inside it. Dust shakes from the carved lid. Romeo exhalessharply, jaw clenched, but he doesn’t lift a hand. Doesn’t fight. His stillness is worse than resistance—like he expected this. Like he fucking planned it.
“You knew,” I growl.
My voice doesn’t sound like mine.It sounds like Giovanni’s.The part of him I swore I’d never become.
Romeo’s eyes lock on mine. No fear. No flinch. Just something tight, something old, something exhausted.
I snarl, shoving him harder into the stone. "You knew someone took something." “Something important. And you didn’t tell me.”
Romeo’s breath hisses between his teeth. “There were reasons.”
“Not good enough.”
The words scrape out of me like broken glass. My grip twists deeper, dragging him closer. The fabric strains beneath my fingers. I feel his heartbeat thudding against my knuckles—steady, unafraid.
