He brightens instantly. Crisis averted. “Can we ride bikes?”
I glance up at Victoria, and she nods.
“Go grab your bike,” I tell him. “I’ll meet you outside in two minutes.”
He bolts away, and I stand slowly.
Victoria stands too. “You’re going tonight?”
“Yes.”
Her jaw tightens. “You don’t have to do it alone.”
“I do.”
She shakes her head, stepping closer. “Tell Matteo.”
I hesitate. She sees it. Always does.
“You need him,” she presses, voice low but unyielding. Now that she’s decided I need to involve him, nothing I can say will change her mind. “No more secrets. Not now.”
“This ends if I move clean,” I argue, though my heart isn’t in it. “If I bring him in and something goes wrong—”
“Then at least you won’t be carrying it alone,” she says softly. “You’ve paid enough in blood.”
I close my eyes.
I think of Rafe.
I think of nights soaked in guilt.
And then I think of my empire built on lies.
I think of my son riding his bike outside, unaware of how close he came to not existing at all.
I nod.
“Okay.”
She exhales like she’s been holding that breath for years.
Matteo is exactlythe same and completely different all at once.
Same grin. Same smart mouth. Same uncanny ability to read a room, yet everything is different in his life.
He’s typing on his phone when I walk in.
Probably a dumb joke to the group chat.
Matteo pretends he’s too good for our juvenile antics, but he’s always the first to respond.
His face drops when he sees my expression.
“Lorenzo,” he says carefully. “I wasn’t…I wasn’t expecting you. You good? Because you kind of look like you murdered someone, or like you’re about to tell me you got some girl pregnant.”
“Both,” I reply.
His brow furrows. “The fuck?”
