Her mouth closes.
I look at Vito and Nico, who both look ready to do exactly what I expect them to do, which is stay in the fight.
Definitely not.
“That means you, too,” I snap at them.
Chapter Thirty
Caterina
Basement.
The word hits me a second before the fear does.
Not because I do not understand what Adrian is doing. I understand immediately. His voice has changed. His body has changed. The man who sat beside me through dinner, answering Sofia’s questions with careful patience and pretending to be relaxed at my table, is gone.
This is the man from the casino floor.
The man who saw danger before anyone else did.
The man who dragged me through chaos while I thought he had lost his mind.
My stomach twists.
Not again.
But it is again.
It is happening again.
Lucia is already on her feet, Gabriel clutched against her chest. Nick has Sofia and Charlotte between him and their mother, his face calm in a way that is clearly for the girls and not because he feels calm. Teresa has Cristiano in her arms now, one hand cupped protectively over the back of his head. Vito is beside her, every line of his body ready for violence. Nico has Emma against his chest with one arm and Erica close with the other.
Adrian does not wait for an argument. He turns, gun low, and leads us out of the dining room.
He is a soldier now, leading us to safety.
As we walk out, napkins fall to the floor. The flowers I arranged for Sofia and Charlotte sit bright and useless in the center of thetable, yellow roses glowing under warm light, while the entire evening tears apart around us.
I follow because there is no choice.
There is no room for questions now.
My house feels different as we move through it.
I know every hallway. Every doorway. Every piece of art on the walls. Every polished surface and carefully chosen detail. I know the turns from the dining room to the side hall, the narrow corridor past the service pantry, the door that leads down to the lower level.
But now Adrian is seeing my house in a way I never did.
Angles. Exposure. Cover. Choke points. Escape routes.
He moves us as if he has already done this in his head a hundred times, maybe more. Adrian is leading us, but somehow keeping all of us covered at the same time. I don’t know how.
The children are too quiet.
That frightens me more than crying would have.
Sofia grips Nick’s hand with both of hers. Charlotte is pressed close to Lucia’s side, eyes wide and bright. Emma is looking around with her little red cheeks serious now, as if she knowssomething has changed. Cristiano is making soft, unsettled sounds against Teresa.
