I can’t do that. I can’t be that.
“Did you hear?” Lucia’s voice cuts through the haze. She’s standing a few feet away, her posture guarded, but I know she’s trying to connect the dots, too. She always does.
“Not yet,” I reply, already operating on instinct. "What did you hear?"
Her eyes flick to the hallway, then back to me. She’s hesitating, like there’s something she needs to say but isn’t sure how to.
“I saw Enzo,” she says, her voice quieter now, like the name carries weight. “Earlier, in the hallway. He was on the phone. It was… strange.”
I stop. Enzo. My oldest friend. The one who’s always been too eager to jump into action. Too eager to manage things. Too eager to clean up messes.
I’m already thinking of the conversation I had with him earlier. The one that felt off. The way he quickly dismissed my questions, the too-smooth answers.
“Strange how?” I ask, voice low, controlled.
She hesitates. “He was talking in Italian... but it was more than that. The words I caught. ‘Leverage’... ‘the boy’... ‘timing...’” She’s watching me carefully now, waiting for me to respond.
The world shifts under my feet. The blood drains from my face.
Leverage.
Timing.
The way he hung up just before she walked into the room… the way he was too quick to shut it down.
I’ve known Enzo for too long. Seen him operate in the shadows. Made the same calculations he has.
I don’t need to hear more. This isn’t just a test.
It’s a game.
And someone is playing me.
“Business, Lucia,” I murmur, my voice too calm for what I’m feeling. “Just business. Nothing to worry about.”
I don’t believe it. Not for a second. But I need her to believe it.
“Are you sure?” Her voice shakes slightly, but her eyes are clear. She’s worried. Too worried.
I don’t answer right away. I can’t. I just file it away. For now. Until the moment I can get my hands around it. The moment I have proof.
But until then, I keep moving.
I walk with purpose, my mind running faster than my feet. It's a pattern forming. One I don’t want to face but can’t avoid anymore.
And as we make our way back to the command center to start the sweep for sabotage, I can’t help but feel it.
I’m already at war.
And this war has just turned on me.
The pieces are moving, and I’ve only just realized that Enzo’s been holding the board.
