“I didn’t say you were fragile.”
“You implied it.”
He holds the look, unbothered. Roberto’s never been the type to dance around a point. “I’m implying you’ve been pushing too hard. Nico mentioned your therapy schedule. He said you added weights last week.”
“Nico talks too much.”
“He’s worried.”
“I’m fine.”
Roberto gives me a look that says he has cross-examined better liars. “Tonight matters. Keep it polite. Keep your temper in your pocket.”
“My temper doesn’t come out unless someone invites it.”
“You invite it,” he says, flat.
That earns him a real smile. “That’s why you love me.”
“Luca loves you,” Roberto corrects. “I tolerate you.”
“Same thing,” I say, and adjust the line of my jacket, smoothing it over my ribs.
Roberto’s gaze dips down again, then away. He’s not sentimental, but he’s not blind. He was there in the hospital after I got hit. He waited for hours for news of whether I lived or died.
He clears his throat. “Northstar’s people are already downstairs. The CEO’s there. A couple of board members. Their general counsel. They’re… cautious.”
“Good,” I say. “Cautious people leave trails. Trails can be followed.”
Roberto raises a brow. “Don’t do the thing where you make everyone feel like you’re hunting them.”
I button my jacket. “That’s your job.”
“That’s my job in court,” he says. “Tonight, your job is to make them feel safe.”
I step away from the mirror, and the shoulder gives me another quick bite, like it’s reminding me it exists. I ignore it.
“I was shot, Roberto, not brained,” I tell him, a little impatient. “I know my job. I always have.”
He holds his hands, palms out. Truce.
I let it go. “Come on. You’re going to introduce me, right? Make me sound respectable?”
“Try being respectable,” he says, then turns toward the door. “And Antonio?”
“Yeah.”
His tone shifts, quieter. “We worry because we… tolerate you.”
I laugh. “I know.”
Roberto nods once, satisfied, and walks out.
When the door clicks shut, I look at myself one last time.
Then I put my charming face on.
It isn’t a mask, exactly. It’s a tool. It’s a weapon that doesn’t leave bruises.
