Page 37 of Veil of Smoke

I glance at her.

She holds my gaze. Doesn’t blink. “Massimo’s gone. I’m not him.”

“No. You’re not.”

“Then why?”

I look down at my hands.

“You didn’t flinch,” I say. “When the blood hit the ground. When I dragged a man off you. When another one came for you and I wasn't there.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“Yeah, you did.”

She’s quiet.

“You kept going,” I say. “Even after you saw how deep it gets. You still came back. You asked questions. You didn’t fold.”

“Maybe I should’ve.”

“But you didn’t.”

Her fingers curl around the edge of the cushion.

“I didn’t step in to save you,” I say. “I stepped in because I thought you were already dead. And then you weren’t.”

She shifts toward me.

I don’t move.

“I keep waiting for you to run,” I say. “But you don’t.”

“Maybe I’m still deciding.”

I nod.

“The other night,” she says, voice tighter, “you didn’t treat me like I was broken.”

“You weren’t.”

“I was close.”

I exhale.

“You scare the hell out of me,” I say.

Her eyebrows lift, but only for a second.

“Because you remind me what it feels like to lose control.”

Viviana shifts closer. “Is that what you’re afraid of?”

I nod once.

She leans in. Not fast. Just enough that I can smell lavender and metal on her skin.

She reaches for my hand.

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