Dante was following us.
That thought crashes into me like a second wave. The silent driver who barely speaks, who I assumed was just doing his job, was watching us at the playground. Before Jack showed up. Which means someone ordered him to be there.
Which means someone knew we might be in danger.
Which means?—
Why do I feel safe here?
I should be terrified. I'm in a compound owned by people who have armed guards and security systems and probably bodies buried somewhere on the property. This family speaks in coded language and meaningful glances. There are rooms I'm not allowed to enter and questions I'm not allowed to ask.
I'm not a fool. I know that so much money must have been earned not only by restaurants and construction companies.
And yet.
When Nico said take the room next to mine, something in my chest unknotted for the first time in months. Maybe years.
I hate it.
I hate that I feel protected by walls built probably with blood money. I hate that Lily is safer here than in our own apartment. I hate that my mother's betrayal hurts less than it should becauseI'm too exhausted to feel anything except relief that someone else is handling this.
I hate that I'm already dreading going back to real life.
"Mommy?" Lily tugs my sleeve. "You're making your sad face."
"I'm not sad, baby." Lie. "I'm just tired."
"Me too." She yawns dramatically, proving her point. "Can we stay one more day? Please? I wanna show Bruno my other bunnies."
"We'll see." I stand, pulling back the covers. "Right now, you need sleep."
"But—"
"Tomorrow," I interrupt, lifting her into the bed, "we're going somewhere really nice. It's a surprise."
"A surprise?" She clutches Sir Floppington tighter. "Is it the zoo? You said we could go to the zoo."
"Maybe." I tuck the blanket around her, smoothing the fabric over her small body. "But only if you close your eyes and go to sleep."
She squeezes them shut immediately. Dramatically. Her lashes flutter against her cheeks.
I lean down to kiss her forehead. My heart cracks open, raw and bleeding.
I would burn the world for you.
The thought surprises me with its violence. I've never considered myself capable of destruction. But watching Jack kneel beside her today, watching him try to take her from me?—
I understand, suddenly, why people do terrible things.
Lily's breathing evens out within minutes. The exhaustion of the day finally catching up to her. I stay frozen at her bedside, watching her chest rise and fall, counting each breath like it might be the last.
Find me after Lily falls asleep.
Nico's words echo in my skull. A command, not a request. Because Nico Sartori doesn't ask for things. He takes them.
I should be angry about that.
I should be a lot of things.
