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Sand and Smoke (chapt.23)

Author: Stone
last update Last Updated: 2025-07-11 19:04:10

Alessia’s POV

Marinella was super quiet in the morning. Too quiet, actually. You could hear kids laughing from a school up on the hill, but down by the beach, it was just the sound of the waves and wind. It felt nice and peaceful, but I’d learned that peace can be a bit sketchy, usually meaning someone’s hiding something.

So, we decided to split up. Nikolai went to the police station to dig up some records, while I headed to the fisherman’s village. It was a small place with families running little shops by the water—old guys smoking pipes, women drying tomatoes under the sun. Everyone was giving me these sideways glances, like I didn’t fit in.

They weren’t wrong. But I wasn’t there to fit in. I was there to find Luca.

At a small bar near the pier, I ran into a woman named Rosa. She looked to be in her mid-forties, pretty heavy-set, with salt-and-pepper hair tied back in a bright red bandana. She was pouring coffee without even glancing at me—until I pulled out the photo.

It was an ol
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    Alessia’s POV We decided to name her Sofia. It was the name Luca murmured when we asked. Because she didn’t say a word. But her silence spoke volumes. Her eyes were wide, yet empty, almost like they had witnessed things no child should ever have to see. She held on to Luca as if he were the first safe thing she’d ever encountered. And honestly, he probably was. Even when I bathed her, fed her, or held her close, her grip only relaxed when Luca was close by. “She’s not just a product of trauma,” Ambrose observed, watching her intently. “She’s evidence.” I glanced up from wrapping Sofia in a towel. “Evidence of what?” “Evidence that Salvage is still in business.” Nikolai chimed in, “There’s no way she made it through that tunnel on her own. Someone was operating it.” Which meant… Viktor wasn’t the end of it. He was just the last face we’d seen. And now, someone else was stepping into his shoes. Luca’s POV I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I felt such a connection

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  • Twisted vows    The Disappearing Act (chapt.53)

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