Valentina.
The kitchen air was heavy, stifling, the kind of cold that settled into your bones and refused to leave.
My fingers wrapped around the chipped porcelain mug, its lukewarm contents untouched. Isabella sat across from me, her eyes hollow, the dark circles beneath them deepening by the day.
Gosh.
Had it been more than a day since Caterina was shot and we left her there?
It felt like years.
Isabella and I hadn’t spoken much since waking. Words felt redundant, meaningless. The bruises on her wrist, faint but present, said more than either of us could bear to.
My own tattooed shoulder should have healed by now, but I wasn’t ready to check.
Not now.
The silence shattered like glass when Marco walked in, his boots thudding heavily against the wooden floor. Reed followed, his expression less guarded than usual, which somehow unnerved me even more.
“You need to pack.” Marco announced, his voice a grating interruption to our fragile calm.
I blinked at him, trying to process the abrupt command. “What?”
“You’re leaving tonight.”
The mug slipped from my fingers, hitting the table with a dull thud. “Leaving? Where? Why?”
Marco’s face was unreadable, his dark eyes steady as he answered. “Somewhere safer.”
I really thought we would have stayed here for a while.
Reed’s eyes flickered to mine, his jaw tightening as if he wanted to say more but couldn’t.
Or wouldn’t.
My stomach churned. “We just got here,” I said, my voice louder now. “Why are we being moved again? What happened?”
Neither man responded immediately, their silence more telling than any words could have been.
This was an order.
From Matteo?
“Just… get ready.”
No.
I pushed back against my chair, the legs scraping loudly against the worn floor. “No. I deserve an explanation. Where are we going to?”
Reed sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. “Valentina…”
“And Matteo?” I cut him off, my throat tightening. “Where is he? He left a note for me with Caterina, so why isn’t he here now? Can I talk to him before we leave?”
The hesitation in Reed’s eyes was enough to make my chest ache.
“He’s… occupied.”
Occupied.
The word twisted in my stomach like a knife.
I clenched my fists under the table, my nails digging into my palms as I struggled to keep my tone steady. “Occupied with what?”
Reed didn’t answer.
But Marco did, his expression darkened. “With his fiancee,” he snapped. “Get your things and be ready to leave. That’s all you need to worry about.”
“Seems to be all I do now, isn’t it?” I shot back, my voice trembling with suppressed fury. “Follow orders. Stay quiet. Do as I’m told without anyone telling me what the plan is.”
“Well, you don’t excel at that either.” This time, it was Reed who snapped.
“Fuck you,” I hissed, standing abruptly. “You have no idea what this feels like. The humiliation and degradation I have suffered for months. The pain, not knowing who to trust. To lose…” my voice cracked, and I forced myself to stop, swallowing the rest of the words that threatened to spill out.
Reed raised his hand like he was about to reach for me, then dropped it back abruptly. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “But we can’t tell you anything now.”
Fuck him.
His words cut deeper than they should have, stirring something raw and painful inside me. I turned away, my hands trembling as I gripped the edge of the table.
“I don’t need you.” I said thought the words were barely audible.
“I know.”
The room felt suffocating, the weight of his words pressing down on me. Isabella’s chair scraped against the floor as she stood, her presence a reminder that we weren’t alone.
“We should get ready.” She said softly, her tone neutral but her eyes sharp as they flicked between Reed and me.
I nodded stiffly, not trusting myself to speak. My legs felt heavy as we left the kitchen, the sound of Reed and Marco’s low voices fading behind me.
Assholes.
Upstairs, the small room Isabella and I shared felt even smaller as I began gathering my things. The duffel bag sat open on the bed, half-filled with the few clothes I’d found in the closet.
Caterina was fully prepared to receive us.
Isabella moved silently across the room, her movements careful and deliberate. She avoided looking at me, and I didn’t press her.
We both had our own demons to wrestle with.
But as I folded the worn sweater in my hands, the memory of last night crept back into my mind. That fleeting moment when I thought someone was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Matteo.
Those dark strands of hair falling over his face as he watched over me like an angel.
I was almost certain it had been him, the outline of his broad shoulders unmistakable in the dim moonlight. But if he had been here, why didn’t he wake me?
Why didn’t he say anything?
Because he had a new fiancee now, dummy. He replaced you like he replaced Isabella.
Pawns to his game.
A sudden noise from downstairs pulled me from my thoughts. Raised voices, sharp and urgent.
I spared a glance at Isabella, who stood frozen with wide eyes.
They came for us. Luca found us.
“Stay here.” I whispered, my heart pounding as I crept toward the door.
She didn’t argue, her silence a testament to the fear we both felt.
***
The hallway was dimly lit, the shadows stretching long and thin against the cracked walls. I moved as quietly as I could, my bare feet barely making a sound on the worn floorboards.
The voices grew louder as I approached the kitchen. The assholes.
“I’m telling you, it’s a mistake to move them now.” Reed said with an urgent tone.
“And I’m telling you it’s not your call.” Marco replied, his tone sharp.
“They’re not ready,” Reed insisted. “Valentina… she’s already hanging by a thread. If you push her too far, she’ll break.”
“Well, she doesn’t have the luxury of breaking.”
There was a brief pause, followed by the sound of something heavy being placed on the table.
“You’re too close to this…” Marco continued, his voice so low that I wouldn’t have heard it if I wasn’t straining my ears. “… to her.”
My breath hitched, and I pressed myself tighter against the wall, my heart hammering against my ribs.
“I’m doing my job.” Reed shot back, his voice strained but defensive.
Marco laughed, a bitter sound. “Your job? Is that what you call it? Because from where I’m standing, it looks a hell of a lot like something else.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Reed said sharply, but his words lacked conviction.
“Oh, don’t I?” Marco’s tone turned mocking. “The way you look at her, the way you can’t even say no to her… don’t kid yourself, Reed. You’re in over your head.”
“Enough!” Reed growled, his voice rising.
“Better hope she doesn’t figure it out,” Marco said, his voice dripping with amusement. “Though I wouldn’t worry too much. She’s too hung up on Matteo to notice your little crush.”
My chest tightened, and I pressed a trembling hand to my mouth to stifle the gasp threatening to escape.
Reed liked me?
The air seemed to freeze, the weight of their words crashing down on me like a wave.
But before I could process it, Marco’s next words cut through the fog in my mind.
“And you better pray she doesn’t find out the other thing you’re hiding. That would ruin everything.”
The floor creaked beneath me as I shifted, and both voices abruptly stopped.
My blood turned cold.
They knew.
They knew I was here.