Page 42 of Luca

I take a sip of espresso, buying time. "I'm used to noise. Traffic, people, life happening outside my window. Here it's just... silence."

"Most people would find it peaceful."

I shrug. "I'm not most people."

He sets down his phone and gives me his full attention. "What kind of noise are you used to early in the mornings?"

Careful, Gabriella. Sofia grew up in a villa like this one.

"I meant... when I was at university. Dorm life, you know? Always something happening." The lie comes easily, but I can see him filing it away like everything else that doesn't quite add up. "I guess I got used to sleeping through chaos."

"You went to university in Rome."

"Yes, but I lived on campus. Near other students." I lean against the opposite counter, the marble cool against my back. "It was different. Busier with lots of activities going on."

"And now?"

"Now I'm here in paradise." I gesture around the pristine kitchen with its marble counters and professional-grade appliances. "Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful. But Ifeel like I'm living in a museum. Everything's so... perfect and controlled."

He's quiet for a moment, studying my face with those eyes that seem to see too much. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

"I want to go everywhere."

The words slip out before I can stop them. They’re too honest, too revealing.

"You can go anywhere you want with your bodyguard."

The casual way he says it makes me uncomfortable. "Do I really need someone following me to shop for groceries?"

"You're not buying groceries. Rosa handles that."

"Then what am I supposed to do all day?"

The question comes out sharper than I intended, and I see something shift in his expression. Not anger, exactly, but a kind of calculation that makes me nervous.

"Whatever you want," he says finally. "Within reason."

"What's within reason?"

"Staying safe. Staying close. Not drawing unwanted attention."

Each restriction feels like another bar on the cage I've trapped myself in. "I can do whatever I want as long as I don't actually do anything?"

"That's not what I said."

"Isn't it?" I set down my cup harder than necessary. "I can't go anywhere alone. I can't drive myself. I’m not allowed to have a car. I can't even leave the property without asking permission first. What exactly can I do?"

"You can live safely. You can enjoy being protected instead of vulnerable."

"Protected from what? I grew up here, Luca. I know this city."

"You grew up as Sofia Arcari, art dealer's daughter. Now you're Sofia Romano. That's different."

Sofia Arcari could disappear into Rome and be anonymous. Sofia Romano will always be a target, always be watched, always be defined by whose name she carries.

And I chose this life to save my sister. I walked into this willingly.

"That's it? I'm supposed to accept that my life is now... this?"