ina'

cco, had started off low and tense, their voices barely above a whisper. But it didn't take long before the word

bout. There was something else-a thread of fear lacing through the conversation that didn't belong i

it aside. I couldn't afford distractions-not now

n hall, out of their line of sight. There was no way I was going to let this slip by. If there were answ

was becoming more invested than I had intended to be. I was drawn to him-his mystery, his defiance, his darkne

h my thoughts. The creak o

ls on the stone floor. The tension between us hung thick in the air, as if ev

d measured. "Rocco's gone. He's heading to

ng out of the shadows, my voice ste

's not the only one looking for answers. There are people who want to see us-

had been expecting. But now that the danger wa

power. Someone's playing a much larger game," I said, my

tretched between us, and I could feel the w

s if he were talking to himself. "I've been watching, Evelina. You have your own agend

k away. "I'm here because I have a score to settle," I sa

r what lay beneath my controlled exterior. The tension between us thickened, but I coul

ca said, his tone harder now, as if the moment h

oice steady, my heart pumping with a sudd

es. But that was quickly replaced with the same cool det

a's

she had stuck around this long, why she was still playing this dangerous game with me. It was clear she had a reason-her own mission, h

. I had spent years building a fortress of walls around myself, and she was the first person who s

knew she was more than just a woman on a mission. There was something raw, something human in her that made her dange

I couldn't afford to let anyone cl

something in me stirred, something that told m

check, my thoughts calculated, my actions precise. But with her... i

to this point. There were people behind it, I was sure of that. But there was more

ge in her eyes. I could see the fire in her, the same fire that had led her here. But it wasn't just revenge tha

ers. "You can't do this alone," I said, my voice low. "I've seen what happens

," she said, her voice calm, but the words hit me harder than they

you get too close to the fire, Evelina? What happens

like she was reinforcing her own barriers, keeping the world at ar

thers. She wasn't afraid of the consequences, of the price that would come with th

consuming people. It didn't care who you were or what you wanted. It

re I thought about it, the more I real

uietly, my eyes locking with hers. "I'm here

ing. "Then we're on the same side," she s

ina'

r

on the same side... for now. But alliances were fragile things, easily broken in a world lik

something in the tension that simmered between us, that made me think we were b

bonds. I wasn't here to make friends. I wa

urn the world