Vincenzo’s head turned slightly toward the desk.
The phone.
For a fraction of a second, he didn’t move.
Then he walked back to it, each step just as controlled as before.
He glanced at the screen.
And just like that—
Something in his face changed.
It was subtle.
But I saw it.
The hard lines around his mouth softened.
The tension in his brow eased, just a fraction.
I didn’t need to see the name.
I already knew.
Violet.
He answered immediately.
“Violet,” he said.
And there it was.
That tone.
Careful in a way he had never once been with me.
“I’ll call you back,” he added, already shifting into something more controlled. “I’m in the middle of a discussion... but I’ll be with you soon.”
In the middle of a discussion?
He listened.
For a second.
Two.
Then his entire body went rigid again—but this time it wasn’t the same stillness as before.
This was different.
His free hand clenched at his side.
Hard.
So hard I heard the faint crack of his knuckles.
His jaw tightened, teeth grinding visibly beneath the skin.
