For several minutes after the door closed, neither Vesper nor Aurelio spoke.
Outside the dining room, faint whispering and the occasional muffled laugh drifted down the hallway. Lyra's voice was unmistakable even when she was trying to be quiet, which she clearly was not.
Vesper stared at the candle between them.
"This feels like a trap."
Aurelio glanced at the door.
"It is a trap."
She sighed and leaned back in her chair.
"I'm going to be honest. I almost prefer when people are trying to assassinate us."
"That's concerning," Aurelio said.
"It's simpler."
He considered that for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"Yes."
Silence settled again.
The candlelight softened the sharp lines of his face, and for the first time in a while he didn't look like he was holding himself together out of sheer discipline.
He looked… tired.
Vesper noticed.
"You didn't sleep," she said.
"Neither did you."
"True."
He looked down at the table.
"After the relay incident, I kept thinking about what Selene said."
"That the system should bleed?"
"That we're pretending stability exists."
She folded her arms on the table.
"You think she's right."
"No," he said quietly. "But I think she's exploiting something real."
Vesper nodded slowly.
"Families like Hale."
"Families like mine too," Aurelio admitted.
That surprised her.
"You're including Orsini?"
"I'm including every family that built power and then convinced themselves it was inevitable."
The honesty of it hung between them.
Vesper studied him carefully.
"You're not who I expected you to be."
He gave a small, humorless smile.
"You expected an arrogant heir."
"I expected someone less… thoughtful."
He leaned back slightly.
"That's disappointing."
"It's inconvenient," she corrected.
He looked confused.
"Why inconvenient?"
"Because it's harder to dislike you."
For a moment he didn't answer.
Then he laughed quietly.
"That's the nicest insult I've received this year."
Outside the door, Lyra whispered loudly,
"IS HE DOING IT YET?"
Valentina hissed, "Lower your voice."
Vesper groaned.
"They're still there."
"Yes," Aurelio said.
"They're absolutely still there."
The Knock
Before either of them could continue, there was a sudden, sharp knock on the compound's front entry doors down the hall.
Not a polite knock.
A pounding.
Everyone in the hallway froze.
Lyra whispered, "That's dramatic."
Cassian straightened immediately.
"That's not security protocol."
Dorian frowned.
"That's someone who doesn't care about protocol."
Lucian's voice echoed down the corridor.
"I'll handle it."
But the pounding continued.
Louder now.
Insistent.
Vesper stood from the table.
Aurelio was already moving.
When they stepped into the hallway, the whole family was converging toward the front entry.
Security panels lit up across the walls.
Seraphina appeared beside Lucian.
"Who is it?"
Lucian activated the entry holo.
The projection flickered to life.
And Ronan Hale appeared on the other side of the door.
He looked like he'd run across half the city.
Hair disheveled.
Breathing uneven.
And behind him—
A black Hale Consortium transport idled in the compound driveway.
Lucian's voice sharpened immediately.
"What are you doing here."
Ronan swallowed.
"I need to talk to Aurelio."
Everyone went very still.
Aurelio stepped forward.
"You found me."
Ronan looked straight at him.
"They know."