Chapter 217
ROO POV
The basent slled like iron and blood
It always did.
The lights above the interrogation room humd softly, casting a pale glow over the chair bolted to the floor.
The man tied to it barely looked human anymore not because of blood or gore, but because whatever fight he’d had left in him had been systematically erased.
Marco.
His head hung forward, chin resting against his chest, wrists bound behind the chair so tightly his shoulders trembled with every shallow breath he took.
One eye was swollen shut. The other flickered open when he sensed movent—fear sharpening what little awareness he had left.
Good. He was still conscious. I stood across from him, jacket off, sleeves rolled just enough to be comfortable.
Calm. Unhurried. There was no rush here.There never was.
Marco coughed, a wet, broken sound. "Rom...roo" His voice cracked like the word itself hurt him.
I didn’t respond. Silence had always been more effective than shouting. People filled it with truths faster when they were left alone with their thoughts.
I pulled out a chair and sat down in front of him, resting my forearms on my thighs. From this angle, I could see the tremor in his hands, the way his knee jerked involuntarily every few seconds.
Fear does that. It strips control first. "Who sent you," I said calmly.
Marco flinched at the sound of my voice, like he’d forgotten I was there. His head lifted slightly, just enough for his remaining eye to et mine.
"I swear.." he started.
I raised a hand. He stopped instantly, breath hitching as if the motion alone had hurt him.
"Don’t say it was all your doing," I paused. "again." The words settled heavily in the room.
Marco swallowed. "I....I can’t say—"
"You can’t?," I repeated softly, leaning back in the chair, crossing my arms. Funny how he’d so been relaxed with being in a room with after threatening my ho.
Sowhere in the distance, water dripped steadily. Each drop hit the floor with a dull echo, marking ti.
"You took out of my ho, wasted my ti, threatened and was still calm like I wouldn’t do shit to you" I counted.
His breathing picked up, panic crawling back into his expression but his mouth was shut. I stood.
The scrape of my chair against the concrete made him jerk violently against his restraints.
"You’re loyal, I’ll give you that." I said, stepping closer. "But the more loyal they are the more it’s gets better in breaking them."
I stopped in front of him.
Marco’s eye darted around the room, as if searching for soone—anyone—who might interrupt this. There was no one.
Just .
That was usually enough.
I studied him in silence, letting the seconds stretch thin. His breathing was uneven now, shallow and fast, his body already anticipating what his mouth still refused to give.
I should’ve been focused.
I was focused.
And yet.... Uninvited, unwanted, her face surfaced in my mind.
Katya.
And the kiss.
My jaw tightened.
It had been brief. Controlled. A lapse, exactly as I’d told her. Nothing more.
That was supposed to be the truth.
So why did it still sit there, sharp and irritating, cutting into my thoughts now—here, of all places?
I rembered the exact second it happened. The way she had tried to provoke . Talking about that dead cousin. It had been so satisfying to see her brave that all I could think of was closing that mouth.
The way she’d frozen afterwards, like she was waiting for permission or punishnt or neither. The way she hadn’t leaned in... but hadn’t pulled away either.
I shouldn’t had done that, I was stupid and was not thinking straight.
I forced the mory down, what was I thinking. This room was not the place for distractions.
Marco shifted weakly in his chair, mistaking my silence for indecision. Another mistake.
"Roo, I—" I straightened abruptly, the thought of her flashing again without warning.
White hair. That calm but silent defiance. When she had brought up that kiss, I got nervous. I never and I an it, I never get nervous about anything since the death of my parents.
But with her I didn’t know what to say and I’m fucking happy to know that my choice in getting her out of my house was the best.
The way she’d asked about her friend instead of herself.
Humanity, she’d called it. The word left a bad taste in my mouth.
I had let her go.
I had written her a future with a signature and a number, clean and final. That should’ve been the end of it. Loose ends cut. Balance restored.
And yet here I was, standing over an enemy, thinking about a girl who should already be irrelevant.
Annoyance flared hot around . I turned back to Marco fully, grounding myself in the present. In certainty, but all I could think of was white hair gold eyes.
The sound of the door opening brought out of my thoughts but I didn’t turn.
"I said I wanted to be left alone, didn’t I?" I said calmly, eyes still on Marco. Antonio’s voice ca from behind , respectful but firm.
"Nonna wants to leave the estate." I exhaled through my nose, unimpressed. "Then let her. She doesn’t need my permission."
"And Katya too." The old man added and tht that did it. My eyes snapped to him so fast it almost surprised .
The sound of her na cut through the room sharper than any blade ever could.
"Where," I asked, the word coming out colder than I intended.
Antonio hesitated just long enough for irritation to spark. "The mall." The word echoed in my head, absurd and out of place against concrete walls and blood-stained floors.
A mall?
My jaw tightened.
So she wasn’t leaving.
I’d given her the check. The exit. The ans to disappear completely—and yet she was still here, still moving through my world, still close enough to be ntioned in the sa breath as Nonna.
Did that an she was coming back? I hated that the thought even ford.
I turned my gaze away from Antonio and back to Marco, grounding myself again, but my focus had shifted. The room felt smaller. Tighter.
"How long," I asked.
"Just a few hours," Antonio replied. "Nonna insisted."
Of course she did. That woman hadn’t even spoken to since that marina issue, she’s still holding a grudge.
I straightened fully, rolling my shoulders once before turning to face him. "Give them tight security."
"Standard?"
"No. My personal detail."
That earned a look from Antonio, he knew how limited I used them but he nodded with no argunt.
He was about leaving when I stopped him again. "No visibility. No disruptions. They don’t feel watched." I didn’t want my old hag coming to for spoiling her outside ti with watchdogs.
Antonio inclined his head again. "Understood." He turned to leave, stopping at the door just long enough to glance back
"Do you want updates?" I didn’t answer imdiately. Because the truth was—I didn’t want to care.
But...fuck.
"No," I lied. "Just make sure they’re safe." The door closed behind him, sealing the basent back into silence.
Marco let out a broken sound that might’ve been a laugh or a sob. "Even now," he rasped. "You get distracted."
I looked at him slowly. Then I smiled. "Trust ," I said softly, stepping closer. "You don’t want my full attention."
And this ti, I made sure he had it all.
††
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