"Yeah," she said, forcing herself not to look away. "I’m sorry about that and more."
It was inadequate. Pathetic, even. But it was all she had.
Cassidy’s gaze flicked once more to the bruise near her eye. His jaw tightened.
"Go to hell, Veronica Scalese," he said. "And I hope he does a whole lot more than that to you."
He lifted his hand, pointing directly at the bruise on her face.
Then he turned and walked away, cutting through the courtyard crowd without looking back.
Vee stood frozen.
The church bells began to ring again, signaling the next service.
"Wow," Valentina muttered under her breath. "That was frosty."
"That’s a word for it," Vee replied.
She reached for her sister’s hand instinctively, fingers curling tight. Valentina squeezed back without question. They began to stroll away from the church building.
The sun had risen higher now, illuminating everything too clearly.
Cassidy’s anger was justified. He had loved her in a way that did not cage. In a way that did not come with guards and surveillance.
And she had chosen the cage.
Not because she was forced.
Because she wanted the man who built it.
"What happened?" Valentina asked.
Vee kept walking for a few seconds before answering. "Too many things," she said finally. "But in summary, I was a real idiot."
"Marco came by last night," Valentina started carefully.
Vee stopped mid step and turned fully to her sister. "Jeez, Tina, you know I won’t be mad if you like Marco. I don’t like being kept in the dark. What’s it with you two?"
If Marco was circling her sister, she needed to understand why.
Valentina blinked, then frowned. "Get your head out of the gutter. It’s nothing like that. He is like the brother I never had."
Veronica rolled her eyes despite the knot in her chest. "You never wanted a brother."
"I thought I never wanted a brother," Valentina shot back, a hint of her old fire surfacing. "But that’s not the point."
They resumed walking.
"Marco wanted to know if anything strange happened at the shop yesterday," Valentina continued. "Aside from the long line of customers and Rosa nearly losing her mind, I didn’t see anything strange."
She paused, then looked directly at Vee. "So you want to fill me in on what really happened with your face when I was gone?"
Vee inhaled slowly.
"It’s Inferi," she said.
"He came by the shop?"
"Yes. I cannot tell Luca. He would have been dead by morning."
"What does Inferi want?"
"I guess he thought now that we have a lot of customers, we will help him push his drugs. I don’t know, but I am not going to do anything of the sort. I promise, Tina," Vee said.



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