They were inside now. Elena had guided Luca to the sofa, a hand on his back.
"Sit down. I'll make you something."
Vittorio watched them from the living room threshold. He hadn't moved. He hadn't said a word since they entered.
Elena walked toward the kitchen, passing him. She brushed his arm, a quick gesture. An anchor.
Trust me.
And it was when she returned with a steaming mug that she felt something had changed.
Vittorio had moved. He was standing behind the sofa where Luca sat.
Too close. Too imposing. Too Vittorio.
Elena stopped.
What are you doing?
A telepathic message aimed at him.
"It's late," Vittorio said, his voice flat. "Maybe Luca should go home."
Elena held his gaze.
"I just told him to stay," she said, her voice calm.
She handed the mug to Luca. "Drink. You're still trembling."
Eyes locked. Just her. Just Vittorio.
"He's trembling because he's tired," Vittorio said. It was an order. "Not because he needs you."
"I don't need anyone," Luca snapped.
His raspy voice broke the sharp silence. Luca looked up from the mug, confused but irritated, his eyes darting between the two of them.
"I just wanted to understand what the hell happened out there. And why you're acting as if..."
Elena felt the danger like an electric shock.
Vittorio took a step forward, stepping out of the shadows.
"As if what, Luca?"
He was losing control. She could smell it in the air.
Jealousy, irrational and poisonous, was taking over strategy.
He's revealing too much.
Luca will see it.
Click. The Tightrope Walker.
"Vittorio," Elena said. Voice sweet, firm.
She approached him, ignoring Luca for a moment. She placed a hand on his chest, over the heart beating too fast.
"I'm here for you. You know that."
A whisper brushing his earlobe.
She looked him in the eyes.
Calm down. Don't ruin everything.
Vittorio stared at her.
For an instant, something dangerous flashed in his eyes. Something possessive, hungry, predatory.
Something Elena already knew she loved.
It was her he wanted. Not Luca.
But Elena saw that Luca had noticed.
She saw her friend's pupil contract, his breath hitch for a split second.
Vittorio blinked, and the mask fell back into place.
Danger averted. Maybe.
"You're right," he said, his voice controlled again, even if hoarse. "Sorry. It's been a long night."
Or maybe not. Maybe the damage was done.
She saw it clearly in Luca's eyes.
He had seen something. He didn't know what. He couldn't name it.
But the instinct he had suffocated minutes ago was screaming again.
Something is wrong with him.
Elena saw the suspicion forming like a dark cloud on his face.
She smiled. Sweet. Reassuring.
"Vittorio is just tired, he gets nervous when he doesn't sleep," she said, as if they had been intimate for a lifetime.
She immediately sat next to Luca, occupying his field of vision, blocking his view of Vittorio.
"We're all tired. It was an intense evening."
Her fingers brushed Luca's arm.
"Tell me about the case. What's worrying you?"
A light, comforting touch.
A sentence and a touch. That's how she shifted the attention. That's how she distracted him from the predatory flash in Vittorio's eyes.
She brought him back where she wanted him: focused on her. On the victims.
Not on the monster.
Weak point.
Luca lived for the victims. It was his obsession, his blind spot.
Luca tightened his hands around the warm mug. His posture was rigid, defensive, but his eyes were now on her.
"The scene doesn't convince me," Luca murmured, his voice still uncertain. "There was too much... too much perfection in the way he left him."
"Perfection?" Elena asked.
"Yes. Coldness. As if..."
Luca shot a quick glance over Elena's shoulder. Toward Vittorio.
He saw something, Elena thought. He doesn't know what. But he saw. Confirming it to herself.
Vittorio had moved to the armchair opposite them. His voice was controlled again, but Elena could still feel the tension vibrating in the air.
She stayed there, sitting next to Luca. Not in the place she wanted to be. In the place she was forced to be.
Her body offered comfort to the friend, but her mind stood guard over only one man.
Vittorio.
Click. The Black Widow.
She watched Luca still trying to look at Vittorio.
If you try to look past me to see him, I'll gouge your eyes out.
Luca took a sip from the mug. His hands were still trembling slightly.
He was looking for confirmation.
Elena placed a firmer hand on Luca's shoulder.
"You're still shaken by the last victim. You stay shaken for days."
She played to his ego. Voice soft, hypnotic.
"You are so sensitive."
Look at me, she thought. Not him. Look at the victim. Not the predator.
Repetition. The first form of hypnosis.
Click. The Pendulum.
"Tell me about the case, Luca," she whispered. "What is really worrying you?"
And so, with lethal sweetness, she brought him back where she wanted him.
Away from Vittorio.
Focused on her.