Chapter 315: Three

CHAPTER 316

KATYA POV

“Katya.” A distant voice drifted through the darkness.

“Katya…” Something nudged my shoulder.

“Wake up.” I frowned, trying to burrow deeper into whatever warmth I had somehow found.

“Katya, we’re here.”The words finally reached me.

My eyelids felt impossibly heavy as I forced them open. The world came back slowly, blurred around the edges. My neck protested the moment I lifted my head, a dull ache running down into my shoulders.

“…Mmm.”

Another gentle shake.

“Katya.” I blinked several times before Chiara’s face finally came into focus.

She looked exhausted.

The teasing sparkle that was almost always present in her eyes had disappeared completely, replaced by fatigue and the remnants of a night neither of us would ever forget.

“We’re home,” she whispered.

Home? I simply stared at her, until suddenly, everything rushed back at once. The club. The smoke. The bodies. Romeo.

The police.

My eyes widened. I straightened so quickly that another sharp pain shot through my neck.

“Ow…”

Chiara winced sympathetically.

“I know.” Only then did I realize where I was. The soft leather beneath me.

The quiet hum of the engine. The faint scent of expensive cologne lingering inside the car.

Romeo’s car. My stomach dropped.

I had fallen asleep.

I… I had actually fallen asleep. How?

The realization embarrassed me far more than it probably should have. All evening I’d promised myself I would stay alert around Romeo.

I’d spent weeks convincing myself never to let my guard down around him.

And somehow… Somewhere between the endless silence inside the car and the exhaustion pulling at every muscle in my body…

I’d done exactly that. I had fallen asleep.

I wasn’t even the one who’d been drinking. Chiara had been the one consuming cocktails all evening.

Chiara had stumbled. Chiara had laughed too loudly. Chiara had nearly tripped over her own feet more times than I could count.

Yet she had stayed awake. I was the one who’d lost consciousness.

Wonderful.

Just… Wonderful. A quiet groan escaped me as I rubbed my aching neck.

“I can’t believe I slept.” Chiara offered a tired smile.

“I think your body decided for you.”

“It shouldn’t have.”

“No,” she admitted softly.

“It probably shouldn’t have.” Heat crept into my face. I hated the thought of Romeo knowing.

Hated imagining that he’d glanced into the rearview mirror only to find me asleep in the back of his car like some child who couldn’t survive one difficult evening.

Slowly… Almost reluctantly… My eyes lifted.

Straight to the rearview mirror. And froze. Grey eyes were already waiting for me.

Romeo. Of course. He hadn’t turned around. He hadn’t said a word. He simply watched me through the mirror with that same unreadable expression he’d worn almost the entire drive.

Something inside me immediately stiffened. My embarrassment dissolved into irritation.

Of course he’d seen. Of course he had. The corner of my mouth flattened. My eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He continued looking at me without the faintest change in expression.

Not amused. Not curious.

Just… Watching.

I refused to be the first one to look away.

Not again. Not after the alley. Not after tonight. The silence stretched another second. Then, without warning, Romeo looked away first.

His attention returned to the windshield as though I’d never existed.

The tiny victory felt strangely unsatisfying. I frowned.

Had I imagined the whole thing?

No.

I knew I hadn’t. Chiara reached for the door handle.

“Come on.” She pushed the door open.

Cool night air immediately rushed inside, carrying the familiar scent of trimmed hedges and fresh grass.

Home. I quickly climbed out after her.

The moment both my feet touched the driveway, relief flooded through me so powerfully my knees almost weakened.

We had made it. Despite everything.

We were home. The massive estate stood exactly as it always had, illuminated by warm exterior lights that spilled across the stone pathways.

Everything looked peaceful.

Untouched. As though the nightmare we’d just survived belonged to another world entirely.

For one beautiful second… I thought we’d gotten away with it.

Then my gaze lifted. My heart stopped.

“…Shit.” The word escaped before I could swallow it.

At the very front entrance… Waiting beneath the golden glow of the porch lights…

Sat Nonna. In her wheelchair.

Perfectly still. Her hands rested neatly in her lap.

The heavy front doors stood open behind her. She wasn’t reading. She wasn’t talking to anyone.

She wasn’t distracted. She was simply…

Waiting.

For us.

Every drop of blood drained from my face. Beside me, Chiara followed my line of sight.

“…Oh, no.” Her voice came out as little more than a squeak.

“No, no, no…”

I closed my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. Not after tonight.

Please. Anyone but Nonna. My mind immediately began searching for explanations. Maybe she couldn’t see us from here. Maybe she was waiting for someone else.

“Nonna!” Romeo’s voice boomed behind us. The single word rolled across the quiet driveway with enough authority to make both Chiara and I flinch.

“…Fuck,” Chiara breathed beside me. I didn’t even have the energy to agree. Slowly, we turned. Romeo had already stepped away from the sedan.

At some point while I’d been busy convincing myself Nonna hadn’t seen us, he’d parked the car perfectly along the circular driveway.

The driver’s door clicked shut behind him with quiet precision.

He slipped one hand into the pocket of his tailored trousers as though he’d simply arrived home after another ordinary evening.

Nothing about him suggested he’d just left behind a club engulfed in chaos.

Nothing about him suggested there had been police. Smoke. Bodies. Nothing.

His stride was unhurried as he walked toward the house. Toward Nonna. Toward us.

My pulse immediately picked up again. Of all the things that could have happened… This somehow felt worse.

Much worse. Because now… Nonna’s attention shifted.

Her warm brown eyes, which until now had remained fixed on Chiara and me, moved past us.

Landed on Romeo.

Then… Very slowly… Returned to all three of us. Back and forth. As though quietly taking in the entire picture.

Romeo.

Chiara.

And

Me.