Her eyes flashed.“I know that, Luca!I have been a target since I decided to not walk past a situation I did not agree with at work.But that doesn’t mean I’m not smart enough to make a damn decision, or to know what the hell is going on with my safety!”
“I understand what you are saying, Mara, I do,” he said.“But right now, you’re the lever they’re pulling to get to me.”
She stepped closer.“So, what’s your plan?Lock me in a room?Move me again without telling me why?”
“Yes,” he said immediately.“If that’s what it takes.”
The words landed hard.
She stared at him, disbelief giving way to something colder.“You don’t get to decide that.”
“I absolutely do,” he snapped.“Because if they take you, it’s on me.”
Her voice dropped.“That’s the problem, Luca.You think this is all about you.That this is a situation that only you can solve, that I am a problem only you can fix.I am not anyone’s problem to fix!”
He opened his mouth, then stopped.
She pressed on.“You talk about choice.About consent.About me not being owned.And then the second something happens that you can’t control, you start issuing orders.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive!”
“So am I,” she said.“But I am not going to do that by becoming the kind of liability that gets people hurt.”
He scoffed.“You don’t understand how this works.”
“Then explain it,” she demanded, “instead of deciding for me.”
The silence that followed was thick and ugly.
Finally, he said it—the thing he didn’t want to admit.“If I lose you, I lose my edge.”
Her breath caught.
“That’s not fair,” she said.“You can’t push that shit on me, and it is not on me to be your fuckingedge.”
“I know,” he said.“But it’s true.”
The argument didn’t soften.It swelled.
Mara’s hands curled into fists at her sides, nails biting into her palms as if pain were the only thing keeping her anchored.“You don’t get to cage me because you’re afraid,” she said, the words tearing out of her now, raw and sharp.Heat climbed her chest, burned behind her eyes.“I won’t survive that.And neither will we—because whatever this is between us dies the second you decide my life for me.”
Luca shook his head once, hard, like he could physically dislodge the reality she was throwing at him.His jaw was locked so tight she could see the muscle jumping.“I’m not risking you,” he said, each word clipped, final.
“And I’m not staying where I’m managed,” she shot back, stepping into his space instead of retreating.“Where I’m locked down and moved like cargo because it makes you feel better.You want control?Fine.Do it without me.”
She moved past him, heart hammering so hard it drowned out everything else—the house, the men, the Covenant itself.“I’m leaving.”
Mateo moved instantly.Not aggressive.Not blocking her path—just placing himself there, solid and steady, giving the moment weight instead of resistance.“If that’s what you want,” he said calmly, eyes never leaving hers, “I’ll take you somewhere safe.You cannot be out there alone.”
The words landed like a door opening.
Luca spun, fury and disbelief crashing together.“Mateo, what the fuck—!”
Mara didn’t look back.“Yes,” she said.“I will not stay here.”
She turned and went upstairs, footsteps sharp on the wood as she headed for the bedroom to pack.
Behind her, the room was silent for a moment, then came the sound—raw and violent.A crack like bone on brick.
