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“You took his love from me,” she hisses, her voice trembling with rage. “He was supposed to choose me. I was the one who stood by him—who knew what he needed. But then you came along, with your pretty little voice and your innocent eyes, and suddenly I was invisible. You ruined everything!”

I see her left eye twitch. Her hand shakes while holding the knife. The temperature drops in the room, and I gulp.

“You were supposed to die.” Her eyes are wide, like she is high or possessed. “Why didn’t you die like you were supposed to, Maria? Now… now I have to kill you myself.”

Emily’s eyes gleam, unfocused. “Beatrice was supposed to make him strong, but she made him soft. She ruined him.”

Her voice drops to a whisper. “I had to do what was necessary. And then you… you were worse.”

She lifts the knife higher. “But I won’t fail this time.”

My breath catches in my throat.

This isn’t just madness.

This is personal.

She took Beatrice from him—and now she wants to take me, too.

The betrayal stings so deeply, I almost forget to move.

But I can’t freeze.

I won’t.

I have to survive this.

For Matteo. For us. For everything we haven’t had yet.

I will not let her take that from me.

26

MATTEO

Dario sits across from me in silence, arms folded, eyes distant. Beyond the curt greeting he offered when he arrived, he hasn’t said a word.

My mood’s been lighter lately—lighter than it has any right to be. Maria is healing. We’re becoming something real. For once, the storm inside me has quieted. But storms never stay silent for long.

“Smile, Dario. Keep scowling like that, and people might think you’re plotting a coup.” I flash a grin. “Still surprises me how Ginny puts up with someone so intense.”

He lifts an eyebrow. “Coming from the king of intensity himself? Matteo, please.”

“I’m telling you, I definitely brood less,” I say, the corner of my mouth twitching. The contentment that’s been bleeding into my bones lately—Maria—still clings to me like sunlight.

Dario exhales, slow and flat. “Good for you. Some of us still have wolves to kill.” He leans back, steepling his fingers. “But we didn’t come here to swap emotional growth stories. Giacomo isn’t going to choke himself out.”

My mood cools. Every time I hear his name, a chill settles over me. I hate how even in his absence, he can still get under my skin.

“We are trying to get an exact shipment date on his next shipment.” I crack my knuckles. “We need to cut him off completely from his big money. Then after that, we will go after the people he is working with.”

A silence falls over us. Then Dario opens his mouth. “That list of people includes your son, Matteo.”

“Except my son,” I say too quickly. “He’s just… lost.”

But even as I say the words, something in me clenches. The truth is, I don’t know if he’ll come back to me—or if I’ve already lost him for good.

“How sure are you?” He leans his elbows on the desk.