“We should limit access.”
“No.”
He waits. Not for explanation. For confirmation.
“She’s learning response patterns,” he says.
“Yes.”
“That creates risk.”
“Yes.”
The statement holds between us. Risk is not the problem. Miscalculation is.
“And Dante?” Luca asks.
I look up. “What about him?”
“He’ll hear she’s here,” Luca says. “When he does, he’ll want to come back.”
“He doesn’t decide that.”
“No,” Luca agrees. “But he’ll try.”
“He’s not in a position to try.”
“Rehabilitation doesn’t stop him from calling people who shouldn’t answer,” Luca says.
That’s true.
“What happened in Ireland,” he adds carefully, “isn’t contained if he speaks.”
“No,” I agree. “It isn’t.”
“And the marriage?” Luca asks. “If the alliance breaks?—”
“It hasn’t broken,” I interrupt.
“Seane Brennan is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Dante is removed.”
“Yes.”
“The structure is gone.”
“No,” I say.
Luca waits.
“The structure changes,” I continue. “It doesn’t disappear.”
“And the girl?”
“She remains part of it.”
