“You watched me with Lily.”
“Yes.”
“You saw I would never harm her.”
“Yes.”
“And still you lied.”
“I was waiting until I was certain.”
“Certain of what?”
“That you loved her.”
The room went silent.
I looked away first.
From somewhere beyond the study, a small voice began singing.
Lily.
The song was one she invented about Buttons crossing a river to find the moon.
I had heard it so many times that I knew every wrong note.
Elena wiped her cheeks.
“She started asking why she didn’t have an uncle,” she said. “I told her families were complicated.”
“They are.”
“She deserves more than fear and hiding.”
“Yes.”
“She deserves the truth.”
“Not yet.”
Elena stiffened.
“You cannot decide that alone.”
“I can decide what keeps her alive.”
“You sound exactly like Matteo.”
The comparison struck something raw.
Before I could answer, the study door opened.
Vincent entered without knocking.
His expression told me something had changed.
“What?” I asked.
“We found a listening device beneath Elena’s car.”
Elena went pale.
Vincent placed a small black transmitter on the desk.
“Military-grade. Recently installed.”
I looked at Elena.
“Who knew you were coming here today?”
“No one.”
“You came by bus.”
“My neighbor drove me halfway because of the rain. I borrowed her car from the station.”
“So the device may have been planted earlier.”
Vincent nodded.
“Someone has been tracking her.”
A guard’s voice crackled through Vincent’s earpiece.
He listened, then turned toward the window.
“What is it?” I demanded.
“Unknown vehicle outside the east gate.”
“Plate?”
“Stolen.”
“How many?”
“Two men visible.”
I moved toward the door.
“Lock down the house.”
Vincent caught my arm.
“Adrian, this could be exactly what they want.”
I pulled free.
“Then disappoint them.”
The mansion transformed in seconds.
Steel shutters descended over the lower windows. Guards moved through the hallways with weapons drawn. The electronic gates sealed. Every exterior light blazed against the rain.
Elena ran toward the kitchen.
I followed.
