Carter’s hand is already in his pocket, pulling his phone out before I even finish speaking. “I’ll call him,” he says.
Matteo.
He hits the call button and lifts it to his ear. The room holds its breath.
Ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
No answer.
Carter pulls it away, glances at the screen like it might change something, then hangs up.
Calls again. Ringing. Longer this time. Still nothing. The unease starts to spread. Subtle at first. A shift in weight. A glance exchanged.
Mac’s hand tightening on Kya’s.
Carter tries a third time. The room feels smaller. Tighter. Like the walls are inching in. He lowers the phone slowly. “Nothing,” he says.
That’s not good enough.
I turn to Dom. “You still connected?”
He’s already moving, fingers flying over his laptop, pulling up feeds, trying to reconnect to something that should still be there. A second passes. Then another. He shakes his head. “No feed.”
My chest tightens.
“No signal,” he adds.
That lands harder than anything else tonight. Not anger. Not panic. Something worse. Unknown.
I take a step forward without thinking. My jaw locks. My breathing stays even. Barely. “Where the fuck is she?” The question isn’t loud. It doesn’t need to be. It cuts through the room anyway. No one answers. No one can. And for a second, everything threatens to come apart.
Then… the front door opens.
Every head turns. Instinct. Movement. Hands shift closer to weapons without anyone thinking about it. The air changes. And then he walks in.
Matteo Vittorio.
Like he owns the space. Like he owns every space he steps into. Calm. Controlled. Untouched by everything that just tore through our night. Two men behind him. Solid. Silent.
And then… she steps in.
Behind him. Smaller than the room. Than the moment. Than everything that’s been building toward this. But there.
Alive.
Everything in me locks. I don’t move. I don’t breathe. Nothing exists except that.
Her.
Standing there. Real. Not a memory. Not a thought. Not something I’m chasing. She’s here.
My body finally responds.
