“As what?”
I don’t answer immediately. Because the answer is not fixed.
“She’s here,” I say finally. “That’s what matters.”
Luca nods once. He understands what I’m not saying. That her presence solves something I haven’t defined yet. And creates something I haven’t accounted for.
“Continue observation,” I say.
“No intervention?”
“Not yet.”
“And Dante?”
“Remains where he is.”
“For how long?”
“As long as necessary.”
Luca holds my gaze for a second longer. Then nods.
“And if he asks about the wedding?” he says.
“He won’t.”
“And if he does?”
I pause. Because that question has more than one answer.
“It will be handled,” I say.
Luca accepts that. He leaves.
The reports remain on the desk, the movement already forming a structure that will become clearer with repetition. She’s not adapting to the system. She’s mapping it. Testing its edges. Adjusting her approach based on what responds.
And I’m allowing it.
That’s the distinction. Containment remains in place. Observation takes priority.
I return to the file without closing it. But the image of her in the corridor—still, deliberate, aware—does not leave with it.
That is… inefficient. Irrelevant.
And noted.
The system holds. She moves within it.
I don’t adjust the distinction.
Chapter 5
The House
POV:Evie
The house reveals itself in pieces, like a woman with excellent manners and several knives hidden under her skirts.
