Two words. Simple. Direct.
They hit me harder than they should.
My brothers care. I know they do. But they show it differently. They show it by testing me, challenging me, pushing me to prove I'm still capable. They show it by treating me like a problem to be solved rather than a person to be protected.
Antonella just... asks me to be careful.
Like it's the most natural thing in the world.
"I will."
Gianna watches the exchange with obvious interest. Her eyes dart between us, taking in every detail. She's young, but she'snot stupid. She sees something in the way Antonella looks at me. Something in the way I look back.
"Are you going to do something dangerous?" Gianna asks.
"Gianna." Antonella's voice carries a warning.
I wheel back laughing. I like Gianna. She has spirit.
Antonella
I watch Bruno wheel away toward the garage, his shoulders set with tension. Whatever business he's handling, it's serious.
"He's intense." Gianna's voice pulls me back. "Like, really intense."
"He is."
"But you like him."
I turn to face my sister.
"What makes you say that?"
"The way you looked at him just now." Gianna shrugs. "Like you were worried."
I don't have an answer for that.
Because she's right.
"Come on." I take Gianna's hand. "Let me show you around."
We walk through the compound together. I point out the dining room where the family gathers for meals, the kitchen where Giulia rules with an iron fist, the gardens I've started visiting in the mornings when the air is still cool.
Gianna absorbs everything with wide eyes. She touches the expensive artwork on the walls, runs her fingers along themarble countertops, stares at the crystal chandeliers like they might be made of actual diamonds.
"This place is insane," she whispers. "Like, actually insane. How do you not get lost?"
"I got lost three times in the first week."
"Seriously?"
"Ended up in the wine cellar once. Took me twenty minutes to find my way back."
Gianna laughs. The sound is bright and familiar, and something in my chest loosens. I've missed this. Missed her.
"There's a library," I tell her. "You'd love it. Floor-to-ceiling books, comfortable chairs, these huge windows that look out over the gardens."
"Show me."
