Page 214 of Caterina
Nick clears his throat, which is absolutely unnecessary because he should not be involved in this conversation at all.
Lucia finally says, “As if no one here knew.”
I stare at her, incredulous.
The room is still dark. The monitors are still black. My house is still under attack.
And somehow, my older sister has found time to be smug.
“What?” I demand.
Lucia snorts now. “Girl, I knew from the moment I walked into the house and saw you two in the same room.”
My mouth falls open. “That is impossible.”
“It is not.”
“We haven’t told anyone.”
Vito gives me a dry look. “So you think.”
Heat floods my face. “How could you know?”
Nico raises his brows. “He watches you like there are threats all around, and you’re the only thing in a room worth saving.”
My heart stops for a second.
Then starts beating again too fast.
“That’s his job,” I say weakly.
Teresa looks at me. “Don’t be dense, Cat.”
I glare at her because she is the most surprising traitor in the room.
Lucia adjusts Gabriel against her shoulder, still pale, still scared, but now wearing the expression of an older sister whose job it is to tease her younger sister over a boy.
“You look at him, too,” she says. “Constantly.”
“I do not.”
Vito snorts again.
I point at him. “Stop doing that.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You did with your nose.”
Sofia, despite everything, giggles once.
The sound is tiny and brief, but with it, everything in the room changes.
Charlotte lifts her head from Lucia’s side, confused but calmer.
Nick glances at the girls, then at me, and I realize what just happened.
For ten seconds, the fear loosened.
