The house reacted before Sofia ever saw Alessio again.
It started with silence the wrong kind.
No footsteps outside her door that morning. No voices drifting down the hall. When Giulia arrived, she didn't linger. She didn't bring tea.
"You're staying in today," Giulia said.
Sofia sat up on the bed. "That wasn't a rule yesterday."
"It is now."
"Because of the garden?"
"Because of what followed," Giulia replied.
Sofia swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Then you should tell me what followed."
Giulia hesitated. Just long enough to confirm something had gone wrong.
"Marco has been removed from the west wing," she said carefully. "His men as well."
Sofia stilled. "Removed how?"
Giulia met her gaze. "Permanently."
That word landed heavier than any threat Alessio had made so far.
"So the escape," Sofia said slowly, "worked."
Giulia's expression tightened. "It revealed what it needed to."
"Which was?"
"That someone was willing to gamble with your life."
Sofia swallowed. "And Alessio?"
Giulia straightened the sheets unnecessarily. "He doesn't like gambles he didn't authorize."
Later, Sofia learned how the house punished curiosity.
A guard she didn't recognize stood outside her door all afternoon. Another at the end of the hall. Conversations stopped when she passed. Even Luca was absent — conspicuously so.
She paced. Counted. Waited.
By evening, irritation burned hotter than fear.
When Alessio finally came, it was without warning.
The door opened. He stepped in and closed it behind him.
No guards. No Giulia.
Just him.
"You used information I gave you," he said.
"You gave it to me," Sofia shot back.
"Yes," he agreed. "And you used it earlier than intended."
"So now I'm grounded?"
He ignored that. "Marco is gone."
"You said he was lying."
"I said he was useful until he wasn't."
Her pulse picked up. "And the men in the garden?"
"Alive," Alessio said. "For now."
"For now," she echoed.
He moved farther into the room, unhurried, eyes never leaving her. "Do you understand what happened?"
"I understand that someone wanted me dead," Sofia said.
"Yes."
"And you let me walk into it."
"I watched you walk into it," he corrected again. "And I adjusted."
"That's not comforting."
"It's honest."
She crossed her arms. "You could've warned me."
"And change the outcome?" Alessio asked. "No."
Sofia stared at him. "You're using me."
"Yes."
The admission was immediate. Calm. Unapologetic.
Her breath caught despite herself. "Then stop pretending this is about protection."
"It isn't," he said. "It's about balance."
"And where do I balance?"
He stopped a few feet from her now. Close enough that the air felt altered.
"Between factions," he said. "Between patience and panic."
"And if I fall?"
"Then someone else wins," Alessio replied. "And I don't lose."
Silence stretched tight.
Finally, Sofia said, "You took Marco off the board because of me."
"Yes."
"And now?"
"Now," he said, "others will move."
Her voice dropped. "Including my father."
Alessio's gaze sharpened. "Especially your father."
A knock sounded at the door.
Giulia's voice followed. "Alessio. It's time."
He looked at Sofia one last time. "You wanted to be interesting."
Then he left.
The door closed behind him with deliberate finality.
Sofia stood very still, heart pounding not with fear, but with the dawning realization that the game had accelerated, and she was no longer just bait.
She was proof.
"Say it again."
The man across the table didn't hesitate. "Ricci moved funds through Milan. Quiet. Three accounts. All clean."
Alessio didn't look up from the map spread beneath his hands. Pins marked territory in red and black. Marco's marker was gone.
"When?" Alessio asked.
"An hour ago."
"And the message?"
The man swallowed. "There wasn't one."
That earned Alessio's attention.
"No message," Alessio repeated. "No threat. No warning."
"Yes."
Alessio straightened slowly. "That's not restraint."
"No," Luca said from the corner. "That's confidence."
Alessio looked at him. "You're late."
"I was making sure this wasn't a distraction," Luca replied. "It's not."
Giulia entered without knocking. She placed a phone on the table and slid it forward.
"He used an old number," she said. "One we burned years ago."
Alessio stared at the phone.
"Who answered?" he asked.
Giulia's voice stayed even. "No one."
Luca frowned. "Then why—"
"He wanted us to know he still has it," Alessio said. "And that he knows we're listening."
A beat.
Then Luca smiled, slow and sharp. "He's not coming for you."
"No," Alessio agreed. "He's coming for her."
---
Sofia was mid-argument when the call came.
"No," she said, pushing the plate away. "I'm not hungry."
Giulia crossed her arms. "You haven't eaten since morning."
"Then I'll make up for it tomorrow."
"Tomorrow isn't promised."
Sofia looked up sharply. "That's new."
Before Giulia could answer, the phone on the nightstand rang.
They both froze.
No one ever called that phone.
Giulia reached it first, checked the screen — and went very still.
Sofia watched her face change. Not fear. Recognition.
"Who is it?" Sofia asked.
Giulia didn't answer. She handed Sofia the phone.
"It's for you."
Sofia stared at it. "From who?"
Giulia said the name softly. "Ricci."
Sofia's blood went cold.
She lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
A familiar voice answered immediately, smooth and unhurried.
"Sofia."
Her grip tightened. "You shouldn't be calling me."
"I shouldn't be calling you there," her father replied. "Yet here we are."
Giulia stepped back, deliberately out of earshot.
"How did you get this number?" Sofia asked.
A faint chuckle. "You think I ever lost it?"
"Why now?" she pressed.
"Because Marco is dead," Ricci said calmly. "And Alessio thinks that makes him clever."
Sofia closed her eyes for half a second. "What do you want?"
"To see if you're still mine," her father replied.
Her jaw tightened. "I'm not a package."
"No," Ricci agreed. "You're a signal."
Silence stretched.
"You let him take me," Sofia said quietly.
"I allowed him to believe he did," Ricci replied. "There's a difference."
Her breath hitched. "Are you coming for me?"
A pause. Not hesitation. Calculation.
"No," her father said. "I'm letting him keep you."
The words landed harder than any threat.
"Why?" Sofia whispered.
"Because," Ricci continued, "he's going to make a mistake. And when he does, you'll be standing close enough to see it."
The line went dead.
Sofia stared at the phone in her hand.
Giulia returned slowly. "Did he threaten you?"
"No," Sofia said.
"Did he promise you anything?"
"No."
Giulia's expression tightened. "That's worse."
The door opened.
Alessio stood there.
He took one look at Sofia's face and knew.
"Give me the phone," he said.
She handed it to him without a word.
"He called you," Alessio said.
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
Sofia met his eyes, something new settling between them not fear, not defiance.
"He said," she replied, "that you're going to make a mistake."
Alessio was silent for a long moment.
Then he smiled.
"Good," he said. "So will he."