Something shifts in her expression. Softens.
"Pregnant," she whispers.
"Due in a few months. Bruno walks now."
Marina looks away. Toward the window. The afternoon light catches the moisture in her eyes before she blinks it away.
"That's..." She stops. Swallows. "That's good. For him."
"It is."
Silence stretches between us. Comfortable this time. Or at least less hostile.
"What about the others?" she asks finally. "Nico?"
"Nico found someone too."
Marina's eyebrows rise. "Nico? The paranoid one?"
"The same."
"How is that possible? He seemed like the type who'd run background checks on his own shadow."
"He did run background checks. Extensive ones. On a woman named Kristen."
I shift against the pillows. The movement pulls at my stitches, sends a spike of pain through my side. I breathe through it.
"She came to work for the family," I say. "Single mother. Escaping an abusive ex-husband. She has a daughter. Lily."
Marina's expression changes again. The softness returns. She understands something about escaping. About rebuilding.
"Nico didn't trust her at first. Didn't trust anyone. He'd spent his whole life watching love destroy people in our world. Soldiers who got distracted protecting girlfriends instead of watching their own backs. Informants who turned because they fell for the wrong person."
I pause. Let the weight of that settle.
"He decided love was a liability. A weapon your enemies use against you. So he never let himself fall. Never let anyone close enough to matter."
"But Kristen changed that?"
"Kristen didn't flinch."
Marina's brow furrows. "What do you mean?"
"Everyone else was intimidated by his staring. His questions. His intensity. They called him paranoid, obsessive, exhausting. They left or he pushed them away." I meet her eyes. "Kristen met his stare calmly. Answered his questions without fidgeting. She'd spent years studying men to survive them."
Marina's breath catches. Almost imperceptibly. But I notice.
I notice everything about her.
"Nico is dangerous," I continue. "But he's not cruel. She saw that distinction. She was the first person who ever did."
Marina looks down at her hands. Her right hand is curled slightly. Protecting itself.
"They're married now," I say. "Nico, Kristen, and Lily. A family. He's still intense. Still paranoid. Still too much."
The room is quiet. Outside, I can hear traffic. The distant sound of a car horn. Normal city sounds that feel very far away from this conversation.
"So everyone found love," Marina says. Her voice is strange. Flat. "Despite the violence. Despite the danger. Despite everything."
