I followed her, acutely aware of the distance between us now. Three feet of empty space that might as well have been miles. Yet something lingered in that space—the ghost of her touch, the echo of her breath against my skin, the memory of her tongue.
She paused at the doorway, turning back toward me. For a moment, I thought she might say something more, might acknowledge what had passed between us. But she simply held the door, waiting for me to pass through first.
Professional. Proper. As though she hadn't been on her knees before me minutes ago.
I walked past her, close enough to catch the scent of me on her lips.
Ellie and I walked through the great room and down the long hallway. As we approached the foyer, I heard voices drifting from the living room. Alex's voice rose above the others, tight with an emotion I couldn't immediately place.
"I don’t understand," she was saying. "What the fuck were they thinking?”
Ellie slowed her pace, cocking her head slightly. Her hand brushed against mine, a fleeting touch that might have been accidental if not for the way her pinky finger hooked around mine for just a second.
"Something's wrong," she murmured, so quietly I almost missed it.
We moved toward the living room doorway. Inside, Alex stood with her back to us, her body rigid. Cam leaned against the wall, arms folded across her chest, while Kara sat perched on the arm of the sofa.
The tension in the room was palpable, thick enough that I felt it press against my skin as we stepped inside. Alex must have heard our footsteps because she turned, and the expression on her face made my stomach drop. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face pale except for two spots of color high on her cheekbones.
Whatever had happened, it was bad.
Alex swallowed hard. "My cousin Salvatore is dead."
The words hung in the air like smoke. I watched Ellie's body language shift instantly, her spine straightening as if bracing for impact.
"How?" Ellie asked. "What happened?"
Alex's jaw tightened. "The Scorpions happened."
I felt Ellie tense beside me. Cam pushed off from the wall, suddenly alert, while Kara leaned forward, her forearms resting on her thighs.
"Lorenzo's squad," Alex continued, her voice flat but with an undercurrent of rage that made the hair on my arms stand up. "They're hunting for the mole who betrayed the family. Got the wrong man." She shook her head. “Obviously.”
"But why?" Kara's brow furrowed in confusion. "Salvatore was one of Arturo's guys, right? Why would they even suspect him?"
Alex nodded, her eyes fixed on some middle distance. "Sal was loyal to a fault. The big dumb..." Her voice cracked, the words dissolving into silence.
I watched her throat work as she struggled to maintain composure. Her hands were perfectly still at her sides, fingers splayed slightly as if she was afraidto make a fist, afraid of what might happen if she allowed herself that small expression of the fury I could see building behind her eyes.
"My brother’s a fucking idiot. Sal never would have betrayed them," she whispered. "Never."
Alex's composure cracked as she tried to continue. "That was his wife on the phone. Sara." Her voice caught on the name. She blinked rapidly, her gaze fixed on the floor. "She found him."
A tremor ran through her hand as she raised it to her face. "They worked him over for hours before..." She swallowed hard. "They cut off his right hand. Left him to bleed out."
The room went still. I watched her shoulders rise with a deep breath. My mind was spinning out of control, trying to fit the pieces together.Her cousin’s wife knew she was here. Her dead cousin’s wife knew she could call here and reach Alex. Did her brother know she was here too? What happened when he—
"And for what?" Alex continued, her voice hardened, though it wavered at the edges. "Sal never knew anything about a mole. He was just..." Her fist clenched at her side. "Lorenzo is a fucking animal. Going after family like that."
She turned away suddenly, facing the wall. "Sal was loyal. Always. And they butchered him anyway."
The muscles in her back visibly tensed beneath her shirt. I glanced at Cam, who stood motionless, her face unreadable. Ellie shifted beside me, her arm brushing mine.
Kara moved first, crossing the room with quiet steps. She placed her hand on Alex's shoulder, then slid her arm around her. "I'm so sorry," she murmured.
Alex remained rigid under Kara's touch. I could see her profile now, the tight clench of her jaw, the way she stared straight ahead as if forcing herself not to break. Her body language screamed for everyone to stay back, even as Kara held her.
"We need to focus," Alex said after a moment, her voice controlled again. She stepped away from Kara's embrace, straightening her shirt with a practiced motion. "This changes nothing."
