Page 78 of The Silent War

The party didn’t end. It just shifted. Glasses refilled. Voices got louder.

And she was gone from us. Pulled away by dynasty daughters with painted smiles and questions they didn’t care about the answers to.

Luca caught my eye across the bar. One look was enough. We weren’t letting the night end with her stolen from us.

We found her between the bar and the deck doors, caught in that narrow stretch. She’d just set her glass down, polite smile still on her mouth, when we closed in.

I blocked the exit with my body. Luca cut off her retreat the other way.

Her eyes flicked between us. “What are you two doing?”

“Taking you swimming,” I said.

“At night?” she asked, half laughing. “In that pool you built to show off?”

“Yes,” Luca said flat. No room for negotiation in his tone.

Her laugh softened, but she shook her head anyway. “You don’t get to decide that for me.”

I leaned closer. “We don’t get to decide?”

She met my eyes like she would say no to us.

Luca’s mouth curved, sharp. “Then decide with us.”

Her lips parted.

God, I was high just being this close to her.

She relaxed before she even realized she had, shoulders easing, that perfect mask slipping just enough for us to see the real girl underneath. The one who teased. Who laughed without asking permission.

Luca noticed it too. I could see it in the way his hand hovered, like he wanted to anchor her back where she belonged—between us.

And maybe she felt it, because she whispered, softer this time: “If anyone sees?—”

“They won’t. We’ll make sure of it.”

She looked at both of us, ready to argue.

Luca leaned in, his voice low enough no one else could hear. “Come with us, angel.”

Her eyes flicked to me, like she needed a second opinion.

“We’re not asking twice.” I was already tempted to just throw her over my shoulder and take her upstairs.

Her breath stuttered, but then she nodded. Tiny. Almost nothing. But enough.

We moved.

Luca at her side, my hand at her back, guiding her through the corridor and up the side stairs where no guests wandered. She let us lead, and I was proud of her.

The pool glowed above. The water warm and waiting. No one there. We’d made sure of it.

She stopped at the edge, eyes wide, glancing back at the laughter and music from below. “This is insane.”

“Good,” I said. “Better than polite.”

Luca’s jacket was off first, tossed to a chair. He undid hiscufflinks like he had all the time in the world. “Dress comes off.”