Layla
Unnatural quiet had settled over the Marcello estate, like the calm before the storm. To add to the feeling of foreboding hanging heavy in the air, an actual storm was on its way, looming over the city in the form of heavy rainclouds.
The quiet, the clouds … it all mirrored the turmoil in my chest.
I sat at the long dining table, hands clenched into fists on the polished wood, my mind circling the same thought over and over: Why hadn’t she called yet?
Carlo and Aldo sat across from me, their expressions dark, tense. Around us, Marcello soldiers moved like shadows, awaiting orders, waiting for war.
“She’s toying with us,” Aldo told me, his voice a soft buzz. More calm to ruffle my ire. “She wants you worked up and ready for answers.”
“I am worked up and ready for answers.”
“Ch
