Then she peeled his hands off her and said, “I’m fine.”
“You were followed across half the goddamned city.”
“And yet here I am.”
His eyes flashed.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Act like this is nothing.”
Tone lifted her chin.
“I’m not acting.Itisnothing.”
There it was.That edge.Her fire.
That refusal to bend, even when she should.
She didn’t shrink or fall apart.Instead, she straightened and let the situation adjust to her—not the other way around.
Raze stared at her, fury sitting just beneath the surface.
And she held his gaze.Matched it.Unapologetic.Unmoved.Impossible.
Raze turned away from her before he said something he’d regret, dragging a hand through his hair as Atlas stepped out from the hall behind him.Gianni was there too, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, expression unreadable.
We all moved into one of the larger sitting rooms for the meeting.
No one bothered pretending this was anything but what it was.
A war council.
Sunlight cut through the tall windows, but it did little to soften the mood.Tone stood near one end of the room rather than sitting, arms folded tight across her chest.I took up position slightly behind and to the left of her without thinking about it.
Close enough that Raze noticed.His eyes flicked between us once but he said nothing before he turned his attention to Atlas.
Atlas leaned forward, both hands braced on the table.Grounded.Controlled.The kind of control that didn’t slip, no matter what was said across from him.
“By now,” he said, voice even, “you all know an unexpected situation has arisen.It’s not something we can afford to dismiss.”
Tone stepped forward like she meant to interrupt—then checked herself.
Her mouth didn’t.
“You’re making this bigger than it is,” she said, directing her words straight at him.
Atlas didn’t react or let her affect him.And just as quickly as his gaze fluttered over her, he dismissed her argument.
“You think so?”Marcello cut in, stepping into the room, hands tucked into his pockets like he was walking into a casual conversation.“Because from where I’m standing, you had two armed men tracking you last night.”
Tone didn’t look at him when she spoke.
“I handled it.”
“Did you?”Marcello’s tone sharpened slightly.“Because Iknowyou didn’t kill those men and dispose of the bodies on your own.”
