Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 51 - Chapitre 60

Lilith POVThe cargo ship was smaller than I'd expected and smelled like diesel and fish, the captain barely glancing at us before gesturing toward a storage container that had been converted into makeshift quarters with two cots and a battery-powered lantern."You stay here, you stay quiet, you don't exist until we dock in Lisbon." His Italian was accented with something Portuguese. "Anyone asks, I'm carrying machine parts and textiles, nothing human.""Understood." Damien handed him an envelope thick with euros. "How long until we arrive?""Four days if weather holds, six if it doesn't." The captain pocketed the money without counting it. "There's food and water in the crates, use it sparingly because I'm not making special stops."He left and we were alone in a metal box that would be our home for the next week, the sound of the engine thrumming through the walls while the ship pulled away from the only country either of us had ever known."This is really happening." I sat on one o

Lilith POVWe docked in Lisbon at dawn on the fifth day and the city looked like something from a postcard, pastel buildings climbing hills and red tile roofs catching early sunlight while seagulls screamed overhead."This is it." I was standing at the edge of the container looking out at Portugal. "This is where we start over.""Or where we fail at starting over." Damien was beside me and his shoulder was still bleeding through fresh bandages. "Either way it's better than dying in Sicily."The captain appeared and gestured for us to follow him off the ship, his expression carefully neutral as he led us through cargo areas and past customs officials who were too busy to notice two more bodies among the workers."You're clear." He handed Damien a slip of paper with an address. "Contact here if you need documents, he's expensive but reliable, tell him Nuno sent you.""Thank you." I said because Damien was busy scanning for threats that probably weren't there."Don't thank me." Nuno was

Lilith POVThree months into our new life and I woke up on my twentieth birthday to find Damien already gone for his early shift at the fish market, a note on the pillow saying he'd be home by noon with something special.The restaurant was busy for breakfast and Maria had me covering for a sick waitress which meant double shifts and customers who complained about everything from coffee temperature to the way I folded their napkins. By the time lunch rush ended my feet were screaming and I'd earned exactly fifteen euros in tips from people who apparently thought decent service should be free."You look dead." Maria handed me an espresso. "Go home early, I'll cover the rest of your shift.""I need the money." But I was too tired to argue convincingly. "I can finish.""It's your birthday." She pushed me toward the door. "Go home and let that man of yours do something nice for once."I didn't ask how she knew it was my birthday because Maria seemed to know everything about everyone, and

Damien POVEight months in Portugal and I stopped checking Italian news every morning, the compulsion to monitor Sicily's criminal landscape finally fading into something I only did once a week instead of daily.My therapist said this was progress and I was learning to accept that progress didn't always feel like victory, sometimes it just felt like exhaustion with slightly better coping mechanisms. The fish market had promoted me to supervisor which meant more money and more responsibility and more reasons to stay focused on the present instead of drowning in the past."You seem lighter." Lilith said one evening while we were cooking dinner in our small kitchen. "Like something shifted.""I think I'm finally accepting that we're actually safe here." I was chopping vegetables with the knife skills that came from a different life. "That my father is dead and his empire is scattered and no one's coming for us.""That's huge." She stopped stirring to look at me. "When did that acceptance

Lilith POVFive months pregnant and I couldn't see my feet anymore, my body transforming into something I barely recognized while Damien documented every change like he was studying for an exam he couldn't afford to fail."You're staring again." I was trying to put on shoes that no longer fit. "It's getting weird.""I'm appreciating the miracle of life." But he moved to help with my shoes. "And also trying to understand how a human is growing inside you.""The same way humans have always grown inside other humans." I was getting frustrated with the laces. "Biology isn't mysterious just because it's happening to me.""It's mysterious to me." He finished tying my shoes. "Six months ago you were just you and now you're you plus a whole other person.""I'm very aware." I stood with effort. "Especially when that whole other person decides to kick my bladder at three in the morning."The pregnancy had been harder than I'd expected, morning sickness lasting well past the first trimester and