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I nod, watching Nora smile as she talks to the girls. She's standing between Lexy and Chiara, all three of them talking at once, her hands moving as she tells them something about Calabria. Her smile is so wide I can see it from here.

“Worth it.”

“You sure you know what you're doing, bro?”

I look up at Dex. “Helping a friend?”

My brother studies me, his expression clearly calling bullshit.

“Fuck.” He shakes his head while I take another drink of my water.

“You really going too?” I ask.

He sighs, then smiles. “Guess my Tinker deserves a trip to Italy. And why not go when my twin brother, who, by the way, hates traveling…”

He stops and waits until I'm looking at him.

I just stare back.

“…goes to Italy to help a friend.”

He makes sure to put as much mockery into those last three words as possible.

“Don't.”

“I worry.”

He sits beside me, and we both turn towards the women. Nora throws her head back and laughs at something Lexy says, and I can't help smiling as I watch her.

“Don't,” I murmur. “She's smiling.”

Happy. Excited. Free.

Fuck, it's good to see her like this.

“I'd take her to Andromeda if it made her smile like that some more.”

The words are out before I can stop them.

Shit.

Slowly, I turn my head.

Dex is staring at me with that knowing fucking look all over his face.

“Don't,” I warn again.

“Didn't say anything.”

“Your face did.”

His mouth twitches. “You're playing with fucking fire, bro.”

I look back at Nora, who's still laughing with the girls.

“I don't mind if the burn comes from her.”

Silence.