Page 79 of Read This Before the Villain falls in Love with You

"You fired your therapist three weeks ago for diagnosing you with chronic stupidity," Adrian pulls up a satellite feed on the display.

"He lacked professional bedside manner," Matteo sniffs, crossing his legs.

I close the tablet. Somewhere between watching Nora rest upstairs and this door swinging open, the night decided it wasn't finished with me. The tea she brought me earlier sits on the edge of the desk, gone completely cold. I don't look at it for long.

I turn my back on the cold tea. "Status on the estate."

Adrian answers immediately. "Perimeter doubled. Sofia is in her room with two men outside her door. Enzo is on the south gate. Nonna is in the kitchen threatening the chef with new recipes."

Matteo snorts. "She already force-fed me the new bread. I think it was a rock."

I slam my palm flat against the desk. "Focus."

Matteo straightens up, wiping the grin off his bruised mouth. "Fine. We focus. What's the call? Do we retaliate immediately, or do we dig in and play defense?"

"We don't react blindly." I look down at the map on the blotter. "If we rush out, we walk right into an ambush. We find out who gave up those routes, we secure the area, and then we strike where it hurts him most."

Adrian nods once. "I'm already checking the names of the drivers and warehouse workers. Anyone who touched those shipments gets questioned tonight."

Matteo cracks his knuckles. "A polite conversation. Or the other kind. I'm flexible. My face is already purple, so aesthetics are off the table."

I almost smile. Almost. "You're on the Palermo crews. Get me names of who lived and who didn't. No heroics. If they're baiting a second wave, I want us gone before it lands."

He stands, salutes badly, and nearly knocks over a brass lamp. "Yes sir, emotional support cousin departing. Also, for the record, if this turns into a mess and Nora tries to fix it herself, I support her in theory and you in practice. Split loyalty. Very modern."

"Get the fuck out." I press two fingers to my temple.

He grins like I've paid him and jogs to the door. "Going. Calling Palermo. Not mentioning your tragic romantic life. Probably."

The door clicks shut behind him. Adrian stays. The room feels smaller without Matteo's noise to fill the gaps.

I stand and walk to the window. The grounds look calm under the floodlights. Calm is a costume we put on so the house doesn't smell like panic.

I watch the shadows stretch across the lawn. "How long until the second wave?"

"If they're following the old pattern, hours. Not days." Adrian joins me at the glass, a half step back the way he always stands when we're working. "They want us reactive. Scattered. Looking at smoke instead of the knife."

I turn back to face the room. "Then we don't scatter."

"And Nora?" Adrian presses, his eyes drilling into me.

I keep my eyes on the dark tree line, my jaw clenched so hard the muscles ache. "She stays here. I'm not sending her away into an open fight while Bellini's hunters are loose, and I'm sure as hell not letting her out of my reach. She stays right where I can protect her."

Adrian lets out a slow breath through his nose. "She will want to help. The moment she smells smoke, she will try to manage the room."

I click the pen in my hand until the plastic strains. "Then she can give orders tomorrow."

Adrian glances sideways at the glass. "She won't wait until tomorrow."

"She can be furious at me alive."

"That is profoundly romantic of you." Adrian dryly checks the courtyard monitors.

I snap the pen cleanly in half over my blotter. "I am a poet at heart."

His mouth twitches. "Matteo already started. I'm just the backup chorus."

My phone buzzes on the desk. Unknown number. Italian prefix that isn't one of ours. I pick it up, thumb hovering.