"And Eraldo?" he asks. "What do we do about him?"
"Tomorrow." I exhale slowly. "We handle him tomorrow."
Pietro nods slowly. "Alright. We do it your way." Pietro stands. "We're done here. Get some sleep. All of you."
The meeting breaks up. Liam gathers his tablet and leaves first.
I wheel myself toward the door. Valentino falls into step beside me as I enter the hallway.
"Where were you?" he asks.
I don't look at him. "What?"
"Before the meeting. You weren't in your room."
"I was awake."
"That's not what I asked."
I keep moving. The wheels of my chair are silent on the hardwood floor.
"I couldn't sleep," I say. "I was... around."
Valentino doesn't respond immediately. His footsteps are steady beside me.
"Around," he repeats.
"Yes."
Antonella
I didn't sleep. Not really. After Bruno left for his meeting, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, replaying everything that happened between us.
I thought he'd come back.
He didn't.
I waited for hours. Listened for the sound of his wheelchair in the hallway. The creak of my door opening. His voice in the darkness.
Nothing.
We didn't agree he'd return. We didn't make any promises. But somewhere between his hands on my body and his confession that he doesn't know how to let someone in without destroying them, I expected... something.
Stupid. I'm being stupid.
I throw off the covers and get dressed. Jeans. A sweater. Something simple.
I pass Giulia in the kitchen, and she offers me coffee, but I shake my head.
"I need air," I tell her.
She nods like she understands.
The garden entrance is at the end of the east wing. I've walked this path a dozen times since arriving here.
I need that right now. Something to drown out the noise in my head.
I'm three steps from the door when a figure moves into my path.