My voice holds steadier than I expected.
His jaw ticks. Once.
“I know who you are.” Five words. Low. Blunt-edged. They scrape against my sternum and leave marks. “Sit down.”
I don’t sit.
Something flickers in his expression. Not anger. Sharper.
His gaze drags over me again, slower this time, and I feel it everywhere.
He knows who I am. Not the accountant’s daughter. Not background.
He knows my name, and he’s looking at me like I might matter.
Don’t hope. You know better than that.
“My sister ran.” I don’t flinch from the words. Don’t soften them. “I won’t.”
Dante leans back in his chair. The leather creaks.
It’s the only sound in the room besides my pulse hammering in my ears.
“And you’re not scared?”
The question drives straight into my chest.
I could lie. Should lie. Tell him I’m confident, certain, spine of steel, heart of stone. That’s what he expects. That’s what would make me look strong.
But he’s watching me with those dark, unreadable eyes, and he’ll see through it. A lie right now will end this before it starts.
The truth could make him see weakness. Could make him dismiss me as just another scared girl who doesn’t belong in his world.
But a lie will. He’ll catch it. And then I’m nothing.
I choose.
“I’m terrified.”
His eyebrow lifts. The first real reaction I’ve gotten from him.
“But I’m here anyway.” I don’t let my voice waver. Don’t let my chin drop. “A Neri was promised to you, and I’m here to honor my father’s debt.”
The words hang in the silence. I watch the ripples move across his face. The way his hand grips the arm of his chair. The way his jaw works, once, twice, like he’s chewing on a word he refuses to swallow.
Lorenzo shifts against the wall. I sense it rather than see it. The Weapon, reacting to a current I can’t trace.
I keep my focus on Dante.
“You’re offering yourself.” His voice has dropped. Scraped raw, like the words cost him. “As a replacement.”
“I’m offering myself as a solution.” I lift my chin. “The other families are watching. A Don who can’t keep a bride looks like a Don who can’t hold an empire. I can fix that.”
His nostrils flare. A twitch, nothing more, but I’ve spent three years learning his tells through doorways and shadows.
That’s anger. Leashed.
“You think I need you to fix my reputation?”
