Then I left.
The night air hit hard as I stepped out onto the street, my pace already quickening, my mind working through the angles.
This changed everything.And Atlas needed to know.
7
Archie
The one thing I noticed about Raze’s place is that it never slept.
Even this late, there were lights on—low, deliberate, like the house itself was always watching, waiting.It wasn’t as sprawling as one would expect, but it carried the same weight.The same sense that whatever happened inside those walls mattered.
The door opened before I reached it, one of Raze’s men stepping aside without a word as I walked in without question.Atlas and Raze were expecting me.
I’d taken not two steps into the house when Tone came clicking down the stairs in her heels.Holy mother of… it was late, and she was dressed like she was just starting out her day.
She stopped near the base of the stairs, one hand braced against the banister, like she’d been halfway between moving and stopping when I walked in.Her gaze lifted to mine immediately.
Sharp.Assessing.But not explosive like she usually was.It had been two days since the meeting at Atlas’s home when she’d displayed a murderous hatred toward me.
There was still something there.Wariness.Mistrust.A flicker of that same fire that always lived just beneath her skin.But today, it wasn’t aimed at me as harshly as it usually was.
“Popovich,” she said.
My name, stripped down.No edge.No bite.What I imagined to be a greeting of sorts.Possibly, she was softening towards me.Or maybe not.
I stopped a few feet away, studying her for a second longer than necessary.
“Antonella.”
Silence stretched briefly between us.She didn’t correct me this time when I said the name she was blessed with, but I did notice the tight press of her lips.
“You’re here late,” she added, folding her arms loosely.
“So are you.”
Her mouth twitched slightly.
“Don’t start,” she warned.
I didn’t.Not because I couldn’t.But because this wasn’t the time.
“I need to see Atlas,” I told her.
Something shifted in her gaze then.Not suspicion.Not quite concern either.More like an awareness.
“He’s in the office,” she said, stepping aside.“With Raze.”
I nodded once and started to move past her, then paused.
“Whatever you’re up to, be careful,” I said.
The words left my mouth before I thought better of them.
Her brow lifted.
“Awww… is that concern I hear, Archie?”she asked lightly.
