At its center—
A deep blue sapphire.
It caught the dying sunlight as I brought it into view, scattering small flashes of light across the stone path.
My breath came out uneven.
I turned back around slowly.
Holding it between my thumb and forefinger.
Like it might burn me if I held it any longer.
My mind snapped backward—
Not to now.
But to minutes ago.
Violet.
Her “accidental” stumble.
The way she had lurched into me with calculated precision, her body heavy, her balance seemingly failing just enough to force me to react.
I’d caught her.
Instinctively. Reflexively.
Her full weight pressing into me, her breath sharp, her hands clutching at me as if she needed saving.
And then—
That sharp sting.
A quick, deliberate graze against my chest.
Not an accident. Not a fingernail.
Something else.
Something hidden. Something placed.
A weapon disguised as a moment.
My fingers tightened slightly around the ring now in my hand as the realization settled deeper.
That was the moment.
That was when she did it.
“I don’t know how this got here,” I said, my voice trembling despite every effort to hold it steady.
My grip on the ring tightened just enough to ground me.
I lifted my gaze.
Straight to Vincenzo.
