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LEONA

C iel stared down at my phone, having run all his tests just to confirm it was actually Chiara. All of us stood around the island, locked onto the device like it was a bomb we were trying to diffuse.

The message taunted me.

Leona?

It felt like her. I couldn’t explain how, but just that it did.

Why would she be texting me? Maybe to tell me that Max was hiding there?

She had to have learned what happened between us the night of my birthday party, right?

If she got caught in the middle of all this, I would never forgive myself. That failure would wrap itself around my neck until it strangled me.

“It’s her number,” Ciel confirmed. He had explained earlier that sometimes hackers try to replicate phone numbers to get backdoor access into a device. “But that doesn’t mean we know who sent it. It might not have actually been her , on her side of things.”

My mind raced through possibilities. “Cas destroyed my old phone. How would she have gotten access to this number?”

Ryuji crossed his arms over his chest, and Obi sipped from his coffee mug. My eyes locked onto the muscles of his forearm and the bobbing of his throat, trying to understand the complicated emotions swirling through my chest.

Things were weird between us right now, and I hated it. His eyes were too careful and all I could read was judgment. How could I regain his respect? Show him that I wouldn’t fail again?

Wynn’s hand brushed against my back. I leaned into his chest and caught Cas’s eyes from the other side of the island.

“Did they take your phone when Max had you?” I asked, hating to force him back to that place, but that would have been the only time I could imagine Max getting hold of this information.

A shadow passed over his face. “I smashed mine before Max’s men grabbed me. I don’t know what happened after that. Ciel gave me a new one a few days ago.”

Obi looked at Ciel. “Is it possible they got the number from the pieces of Caspian’s phone?”

He pulled his glasses off his face and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, but it’s unlikely.”

“Then how did Chiara get my phone number? Assuming that it is, actually, her.”

The rest of us waited for some sort of response, but all I was met with was silence. We were all exhausted. Max was slowly sucking the life out of us.

I glanced at Ciel, but he rested his head in his hands. “If someone asks me if we were hacked, I’m going to lose my goddamn mind.”

I reached beside Wynn to grab his hand, but Ciel pulled away.

Obi cleared his throat. “Ciel, I apologize, but is there any indication Leona’s phone has been compromised?”

I rolled my eyes. “Obi, come on.”

Ciel lifted his head. “There is no evidence of hacking on that phone. Nor in my systems. I’d need to look at everyone’s devices to be sure, though.”

“It must be done.” Obi pulled his phone from his pocket and set it on the counter. Then he gestured for everyone to do the same.

Another chime had our heads snapping toward my phone. I leaned down to read it aloud.

“‘Are you there? I thought you were dead. I’ve missed you so much.’”

I sucked in a breath as my heart constricted. Wynn looped his arm around my shoulders. How had I not once reached out to her to let her know I was alive? I should have known she’d get dragged into this. I should have tried to warn her before Max bunkered down at the Tommasos.

“Should I respond?” I asked.

“No,” Cas said immediately. “Look, princess, I know how much she means to you, but we can’t trust it.”

“What if she needs me?” What if she was in trouble? What if she was trying to warn me? What if she just wanted to talk to me as much as I wanted to talk to her?

“Then we better kill Volpe as soon as fucking possible,” Ryuji said with a shrug. “Problem solved.”

Another message chimed. This time Wynn read it out loud. “‘You’ll always be my sister. Nothing will change that.’”

“Fuck.” I bit my lip and crossed my arms over my chest. “It’s like a dagger to my heart. She wants me to respond.”

“Which is why it is prudent you do not,” Obi said. His eyes softened. “We do not know whether Volpe has leverage over her.”

Leverage. Fuck . He wouldn’t hurt her, would he?

“And though I don’t currently see any evidence of hacking,” Ciel added, “it could be a ploy to get a lock on your location. It’s better to not engage.”

“We have to kill him,” I said through gritted teeth. “Soon.”

“Didn’t I just say that same thing?” Ryuji muttered.

My skin crawled. I hated the fact that they all agreed I shouldn’t go with them on this mission, especially now that Chiara might be in danger. But what was I supposed to do? Just charge in there after them?

That was even more stupid.

This was so goddamn hard. I doubted I’d be able to sleep tonight. I went to reach for the phone, to tuck it away in my back pocket like I normally did, but my fingers paused mid-air. If I took it with me, and she kept texting me, I’d crack, I knew it.

I had to prove that I was smarter than that.

I nudged the phone in Ciel’s direction. “Hold on to it for me.”

He nodded, hair falling over his eyes.

Obi’s chin lifted in approval and my back straightened.

“Princess.” Cas jerked his head. I stepped out of Wynn’s arms and walked around the island into his waiting ones, pressing my face against his chest. He kissed the top of my head, and I closed my eyes. “She’s going to be fine. But we have to be smart.”

Of course, I knew he was right. But if anything happened to my best friend, and I had a chance to stop it but didn’t…I didn’t know.

We needed to end this.