Page 93 of The Cost of Silence

I laugh weakly. “Deal.”

“Okay,” she sighs. “Send me the details. I’ll be there tomorrow morning to help with the cooking. Heaven knows what we’ll be eating otherwise. Probably some nasty takeout food.”

My heart lifts. “Thank you.”

“I’m doing this for you, not him,” she warns.

“I know.”

“But I hope, for your sake, that he’s everything you believe he is.”

A lump forms in my throat. “He’s… more,” I whisper.

“We’ll see,” she says, but softer this time. “Call me again tonight. I want to know you’re okay.”

“I will.”

“And Bella?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you. Even when you scare me.”

“I love you, too.”

When the call ends, I stare at the screen for a long moment, chest tight, emotions swirling, heavier than before but steadier too.

Because I just made a choice.

A big one.

I walk back toward Nico, heart pounding far too fast, and the moment his eyes find mine, warm, watchful, steady, and I know it was the right one.

“How did it go?”

“She’s coming and she’ll be here bright and early to help cook. So, I hope cooking was in your plans because if we order in or cater, she’s going to blow a gasket.”

Nico wraps his arms around me, dropping his forehead to mine. “It’s gonna be fine. Matteo always cooks a turkey and all the trimmings. Though we do buy in the pies.”

“I can bake some pies.”

“I’ll help.”

“You’re offering to be my sous chef?”

Nico smirks. “Matteo calls it kitchen scut, but yeah, that’s essentially what Adi and I are when Matteo takes over the kitchen. The man is a drill sergeant.”

Laughter spills from me. “Oh, this is gonna be fun. Two cooks in the kitchen.”

Nico kisses me softly. “Stop worrying, it’ll be fine.”

I realize something: For the first time in weeks, I’m not afraid of where any of this is going.

26.Isabella

I wakeup with that dizzy mix of excitement and dread fluttering in my stomach—the kind you feel right before a big exam, or meeting a celebrity, or stepping off a cliff hoping you’ll fly.

Today is Thanksgiving.