Chapter 336: Cash

CHAPTER 337

KATYA POV

Afternoon arrived far too quickly. It felt as though the morning had disappeared without either Chiara or I accomplishing anything useful.

Well… anything except worrying. I’d lost count of how many times Chiara had paced across my bedroom.

Back and forth. She’d sit for exactly thirty seconds before standing again.

Walk to the window. Peek through the curtains. Walk back. Sit. Stand. and Repeat.

And By the fifth round, I was beginning to feel dizzy just watching her. “You are making me nervous,” I finally muttered from where I sat on the edge of my bed.

She stopped pacing just long enough to stare at me. “I am nervous.”

“I noticed.” She resumed walking. “I mean it, Katya.”

“So do I.”

“No, you don’t.” She pointed dramatically toward me. “You’re too calm.”

“I am not calm.”

“You’ve been sitting in the same position for almost ten minutes.”

“Because there’s nothing else to do.”

“There is!” She threw both hands into the air. “We should already be on our way to the police station.”

I sighed.

“We don’t even have a way to get there.”

“And whose fault is that?”

I looked at her blankly.

“…The fire?”

“The fire,” she agreed dramatically before collapsing into the armchair across from me. Silence settled over the room again. Only this time it wasn’t peaceful.

Every passing minute seemed louder than the last. The police station. Tomorrow had somehow become today. Chiara suddenly groaned.

“They’re going to arrest us.” I rubbed my forehead as Chiara continued, “They said to report to the station today and we are there yet. They’ll think we’re hiding!”

“Chiara.” I sighed and thankfully She stopped and folded her arms. I couldn’t argue with anything she had said because to be honest, every possibility seemed equally terrifying.

My gaze drifted unconsciously toward the concealed door connecting my room to Romeo’s. I hadn’t seen him once all day. Which should have made absolutely no difference to me.

Except… It did. Annoyingly so. My thoughts wandered back to last night words of reassurance and I squeezed my eyes shut.

Stop thinking about it. I wasn’t relying on him. I couldn’t. It would be ridiculous to trust someone’s promise after one conversation. Especially Romeo Salvatore’s.

Still… Where was he? If he’d truly intended to keep that promise… Shouldn’t he actually be here?

The longer he remained absent, the harder it became to ignore the small knot tightening inside my stomach.

What if he’d left? What if he’d already flown back What if he’d simply forgotten? The thought irritated me more than it should have. Because it shouldn’t have mattered.

I’d already decided not to believe him. Hadn’t I? “…Katya?”

I blinked, the shadows of my mind receding as I pulled myself back to the present. Chiara was watching me carefully, her brows furrowed with deep concern. “You disappeared again.”

“I was thinking.”

She sighed, the fight draining out of her for a brief second. “And whatever you’re thinking isn’t helping.”

Pushing herself out of the chair, her posture shifted.

The panic in her eyes receded, replaced by something much more determined, a desperate kind of resolve.

“We need a plan.”

“We have one.”

“We need a better one.”

“This is the better one.”

She grimaced, her lips curling in distaste as she looked around the room. “…Unfortunately.”

Our brilliant plan… if it could even be called that… was painfully, embarrassingly simple.

Ask Nonna for money. Tell her a harmless lie about wanting to spend the afternoon at the beach to clear our heads.

Then, use that money for transportation to the police station instead. It was a desperate move born of absolute necessity. Neither of us had our phones. Neither of us had our wallets.

Neither of us possessed a single euro to our names. Everything we owned, every little shred of our independent lives, had disappeared into ash and smoke the night the club burned.

Even knowing all of this, the heavy guilt in my chest made me sick. I still wasn’t comfortable with the deception.

“Asking Nonna feels wrong.”

Chiara immediately shook her head, waving a hand to brush my conscience away. “We’re borrowing.”

“We’re lying.”

“We’re… borrowing while lying.” She waved a dismissive hand again, though her own eyes lacked conviction.

I looked at her closely, desperate for any other alternative as I spoke up. “I still don’t understand why you can’t ask your mother.”

Chiara’s shoulders slumped dramatically, all her faux confidence vanishing instantly. “My mother?”

“Yes.”

“She won’t give me anything.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” She coughed, looking suddenly very interested in the pattern of the rug beneath her feet. “I may have… developed a reputation.”

I narrowed my eyes, sensing the hidden truth. “What kind of reputation?”

“The borrowing kind.”

“…The borrowing kind?”

“I borrow money.”

“And?”

“I occasionally forget to return it.”

“Occasionally?”

“…Frequently.”

I stared at her. She smiled weakly. “My Mother stopped lending me money three months ago.”

“…Three months?”

“My sister stopped before that.”

“And her husband?”

“He laughed.”

I blinked.

“He… laughed?”

“He said it builds character.”

“…For who?”

“me.” Despite the crushing anxiety weighing on my mind, the sheer ridiculousness of the conversation caught me off guard, and an unexpected, breathless laugh escaped my lips.

Hearing it, Chiara’s expression softened. She walked over to me, placing both hands firmly on my shoulders, her touch grounding and urgent. “There, you do have to ask Nonna.”

I groaned, burying my face in my hands for a brief second. “I hate this.”

“I know.”

“I don’t like lying to her.”

“I know.”

“What if she asks questions?”

“She probably will.”

“That doesn’t help.”

“I wasn’t trying to help.”

I looked at her in disbelief.

She smiled apologetically.

“Sorry.”

Silence settled again. Then she gently nudged me toward the bedroom door.

“Go.” I remained rooted to the floor.

“Katya.”

“I’m thinking.”

“You’re stalling.”

“…Maybe.”

She nudged me again.

“You can do this.”

“I really can’t.”

“You absolutely can.”

I took one reluctant step.

Then another.

By the time I reached my bedroom door, my stomach felt strangely unsettled. Why was asking Nonna for money making me more nervous than speaking to Romeo yesterday?

Probably because Nonna had done absolutely nothing to deserve being lied to. I paused outside her bedroom door.

The polished oak looked strangely intimidating today.

I lifted my hand. Lowered it. Lifted it again.

Finally… Knock. Knock. Knock. “Come in.” I slowly pushed the door open.

Warm afternoon sunlight poured through the enormous windows, bathing the room in soft golden light. Nonna wasn’t reading.

Nor was she working, she sat comfortably beside the large window overlooking the sprawling estate.

One hand rested lightly on the arm of her chair while the other held a delicate teacup.

Beyond the glass, the gardens stretched endlessly beneath the afternoon sun. Rows of blooming roses.

Perfectly trimmed hedges. Ancient olive trees swaying gently in the breeze while She simply admired the view.

Until she noticed me.