LUCAThe numbers didn’t add up. I squinted at the screen again, clenching my jaw tighter the more I scrolled. The last guy who handled these files was clean, detailed, and obsessive like me. But now, the new logs felt like they were thrown together by someone who didn’t give a damn. All I could see were wrong dates, mislabeled batches, and completely inconsistent barrels. No continuity at all.The damn wine house data was a mess.I pushed the chair back harder than I needed to, the wheels scraping the floor like a scream. I marched outside, and of course, Pietro was standing near the railing like he owned the damn sun.“Did you change the data manager at the wine house?” I asked, waving the files still in my hand.He didn’t even look at me. He nodded like it wasn’t a big deal. “Yeah. I let the last guy go.”“Why?”“He was caught kissing another worker behind the building,” he said, as if that answered anything.What the fuck did that have to do with anything? I stared at him. “So?”H
LUCATen years ago (three days before Matteo was murdered)“Mama is calling us!”Matteo’s voice drifted through the door of the study. I smiled but I didn’t answer. My fingers were deep in some old accounting files as I flipped through pages stained with wine and the smell of age.Not that I cared about wine. I cared about who kept skimming off the top of the family vineyard fund. Someone was always lying in this house. The last time I told Mama to send away the man overseeing the vineyard workers, she asked if I’d take over. The argument didn’t end well, so my job now was to find proof.“Luca!” he called again, sharper now. “You heard me!”I blinked down at the folder one last time, sighed, and shoved it aside. My mood was already twitchy, and Mama’s timing was always deliberate.By the time I got to the living room, Matteo was already there. His curls were damp from the shower and he still had a towel around his neck. I never understood how someone could look like poetry in nothing
MIGUEL“Miguel?”Paul’s voice was soft, careful. Like he didn’t want to startle me, like I was glass about to splinter.I didn’t turn around immediately. I just kept staring out into the night from the balcony. Palermo’s skyline blinked faintly in the distance, the streetlamps buzzing far below us. The city was quiet in that deceptive way cities can be: loud underneath the silence, if you knew where to listen.Paul stepped out onto the balcony with bare feet. I heard the light tap of them on the tiles before I felt his hand gently brush my arm.“You’re going to catch a cold,” he murmured. “Come inside.”I finally turned to him. My face must’ve said more than my mouth could manage, because he just looked at me for a while, his eyes getting heavy with concern. I rubbed my arm and glanced back at the city.“Are the kids asleep?” he asked, softer this time.“Yeah,” I whispered. “They went out quickly. I think they cried themselves to sleep.”Paul’s eyes fell. His hand was still on my arm,
MIGUELThe house was too quiet. It wasn’t the peaceful kind of quiet though. This one wrapped itself around your lungs and made it hard to breathe. It was that kind of quietness that made the clinking of cutlery on plates sound like gunshots in your ears. I hated it. I hated every corner of this house. Hell, I hated myself.We were all at the dining table, but no one was The food on our plates might as well have been decoration. I pushed mine around with my fork, barely aware of what it was. Some kind of pasta, I think. Leo sat beside me with his little legs swinging under the chair, his fork resting in his hand like he’d forgotten it was there. Isabella was in Paul’s lap, resting her head against his chest in silence. Even the kids could feel that something was broken. And none of us knew how to fix it.Paul hadn’t gone home. He didn’t even bring it up. He just said softly that he would stay the night, and nobody questioned it. I was grateful. I didn’t think I could’ve survived t
MIGUELI stood over the bed for what felt like forever, staring at their small, still bodies. Leo’s hand was curled up by his face, breathing softly, and Isabella was tangled in the sheets like she’d fought something in her dreams and won. Their innocence was a punch to the chest. Everything in this house had become too quiet. Even the kid’s sleep felt like a kind of silence I couldn’t understand.I turned from them before I fell apart again. The hallway outside our room seemed longer than usual, and my feet dragged across the floor like I was walking through syrup. I hadn’t even thought to change after Pietro drove me back from the hospital. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, a voice cut through the quiet.“Where are you going?”I turned slowly. Pietro stood in the hallway, looking like a complete mess. His hair was scattered around his face and his hand was curled around a mug that looked untouched.“I am going to see Salvatore,” I answered, and only then did I feel the chil
MIGUELIt was getting really late. I checked my phone and the time startled me. I rubbed my eyes and tried to hold back a yawn, but it still slipped out. The laughter and music at the bar were starting to blur together, fading into the background. I leaned toward Pietro.“I think I need to head home,” I said quietly, hoping my voice wouldn’t betray the strange weight I felt in my chest. I would probably get another fever before morning. “I’m really tired.”Pietro gave a small laugh and slapped his knee. “I already figured you would tap out first,” he said. Then he glanced at Luca. “Drop him off and come back. When Salvatore returns, we’ll drink till daylight. It’s our last chance. He’ll probably vanish now that he’s moving out.”They chuckled but my smile was weak. I dare not tell Salvatore that I was feeling weird, because he’d instantly tell me that he had tried to warn me. Pietro walked with us toward the lot. The street lamps glowed dull orange over the parked cars, and the air