*VINCENZO*
The air in the apartment was thick with the promise of home-cooked pasta, but it couldn't quite mask the tension simmering between us. I leaned against the counter, my rib still throbbing from the injury and the agonizing memories of the last few weeks clinging to my mind like shadows. My fingers traced the edge of the wooden surface, tapping a rhythm that echoed my escalating anxiety. Adeline was moving around me, busying herself with the preparations, but her distraction barely scratched the surface of the thoughts swirling in her head.
"Why don't we just go back to the mansion?" she had asked, her brown eyes hopeful yet naively unaware of the cloud enveloping our lives. I hated to burst that bubble, but I had to.
"The mansion's under the FBI's care now, Adeline. They're i
