d two things

uel, but because he didn't need to be.Second: fear was exactl

with intention. Elena stood in the center of it, shoulders squared, heart pounding far harder th

felt like

, she thought. Trying t

efore it could suffocate her. "I didn't see faces. I d

" Alessandro

th a pulse

ed. Focused. As if she were a puzzle pla

freeze," he sa

rning when to disappear," she shot

did

dro took a step closer, not invading her space, but close enough that Elena b

al," he said. "That ma

er voice stayed steady

r carefully, as if hones

t," he said. "And because killing you wo

htened. So death

ternative?"

e. Del

where I ca

and disbelieving. "You

ro didn'

won't be owned, watched, or

" he warn

ted, meeting hi

tly disappear, you've already misjudged me". Si

s cha

no one else ever heard from him.

plied. "You're used to pe

moment, he s

e smiled. Not kind.

dro said. "Then we d

d. "Differ

rontation. "You'll stay under my protection," he said. "You'll

f I sa

er, expression unre

that part of h

oner-not officially. But she wasn't free either.And the most unsettling

Luca appeared beside him. "She's trouble." Alessa

tly. "That's what m

in years, the game ah