Page 53 of Veil of Secrets

But in here?

It’s just us.

And a body cooling behind a stack of broken crates.

“You want me to clean it up?” she asks.

“No.”

“You trust me in here with a corpse?”

“I trust you anywhere.”

She stares at me.

Hard.

Then nods once.

Not for me.

For herself.

I watch her walk across the room, grab her shirt off the crate, and slip it back on.

Her hands move steady. No shake. No hesitation.

I clean the blade. Slide it back into its sheath under my jacket.

She looks at the door. Then at me.

“You know they’re gonna keep coming, right?”

“I’m counting on it.”

“They think I’m just leverage.”

“They’re wrong.”

She walks toward me again. Stops close. Close enough to feel.

“What do you want me to be, Nico?”

The question isn’t soft. It’s not romantic.

It’s survival-level.

She needs to know what I see when I look at her.

I don’t sugarcoat it.

“Sharp. Dangerous. On my side.”

She exhales.

“That’s it?”

“For now.”

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