For a long moment, Amira didn't breathe.
The cold Vienna air pressed against her chest, but none of it entered. Leonardo's words still hung between them sharp, jagged, impossible.
"The Syndicate didn't kill my brother.
I did."
Her mind tried to reject it, push it away, reframe it as shock, trauma, or metaphor.
But Leonardo's face
His eyes
The way his voice had broken on the last word…
It wasn't metaphor.
It was confession.
"Leo," she whispered, "tell me you're not saying what I think you're saying."
He dropped his gaze.
Not in shame.
But like someone revisiting a memory he'd spent years burying alive.
"I never meant to kill him," he said softly. "But intention doesn't erase what happened."
The world around them was quiet too quiet. The alley behind Vass's compound was empty, wind rustling against metal fences, the muted hum of distant traffic fading into the dark.
Leonardo leaned back against the wall, hands trembling at his sides. He looked nothing like the sharp, composed man she'd met. He looked human. Fragile. Haunted.
Amira stepped closer, but not close enough to crowd him.
"Tell me," she said gently.
He took a long breath.
And the story began.
The Memory That Wouldn't Die
"I was seventeen," Leonardo said. "Still trying to prove to my father that I deserved a place in the Syndicate. Matteo—my brother—was older, cleaner, the one everyone expected to lead."
He paused.
"He hated the Syndicate. Hated my father. Hated the violence. He said staying in that world was like drinking poison just to keep your name alive."
Amira listened, silent.
"One night," Leonardo continued, "my father ordered a test. A simple one — follow a suspected traitor, confirm his meeting, report back."
His jaw tightened.
"But Matteo found out. He followed me. He said he wanted to drag me home before I destroyed myself chasing our father's approval."
A painful breath.
"I told him to leave. He refused. He said if I didn't walk away, he'd expose everything my father was planning."
His eyes darkened.
"The traitor we were following brought backup. Shots were fired. We ran. Matteo was ahead of me, calling for me to move faster. And then…"
Leonardo swallowed hard.
"There was a turn. A shadow. A flicker of movement. I fired."
Amira's stomach twisted.
"Leo…"
"I only saw a figure," he whispered. "I thought it was the attacker. I didn't know Matteo had circled around the alley to pull me out."
He closed his eyes tightly.
"My bullet hit him before the attackers even reached us."
The silence was sharp.
Amira stepped forward and took his hand.
He didn't pull away.
"He fell against me," Leonardo whispered. "His blood it wouldn't stop. He kept saying my name like he was trying to anchor himself with it."
His voice cracked.
"And the last thing he told me was…
'Tell Father I died fighting. Don't let him know you did this.'"
Amira's throat tightened painfully.
Leonardo dragged a shaking hand through his hair.
"My father did exactly what Matteo asked. He used Matteo's death to strengthen the Syndicate. He told everyone Matteo died a hero. And he told me if I ever confessed the truth, the Syndicate would burn me alive for killing one of my own."
A bitter smile.
"So I stayed quiet. I became what my father always wanted — the weapon Matteo warned me I would become."
Amira touched his cheek, gently forcing him to look at her.
"You were a boy," she said. "And it was an accident."
"An accident doesn't bring him back."
"No," she agreed softly. "But silence didn't, either."
Leonardo looked away, guilt carving deep into him.
"Vass knows," he murmured. "That's why he wants me. A man who carries this much guilt is easy to manipulate."
Amira felt a sharp ache in her chest.
"And The Regent?"
Leonardo let out a low exhale.
"He knows everything. He always has."
That surprised her.
"That's why he watches me," Leonardo said quietly. "Not because he needs my loyalty but because he knows broken men don't stay predictable."
He stepped back from her slightly, like he needed air.
"I'm dangerous, Amira. Not to you — but to anyone who touches the people I care about. I proved that the night Matteo died."
Amira shook her head.
"That accident doesn't define you."
Leonardo let out a harsh, broken laugh.
"It defines every choice I've made since."
The Question That Scared Him
A deep silence settled over them.
Then Leonardo looked at her really looked, like he was searching for the moment she'd finally step back from him.
"You should go," he said softly. "Now that you know."
She stepped toward him instead.
"No."
His expression flickered — pain, disbelief, fear tangled together.
"I killed my brother," he whispered. "And you still"
"Yes," she said simply.
He blinked.
"You don't even know what that means, Amira."
"It means you've been punishing yourself for years for something that would have destroyed anyone." She touched his arm, grounding him. "And you survived it. That alone says everything."
He stared at her, eyes shining with something between longing and devastation.
"You're not afraid of me?" he said quietly.
"No," she answered. "I'm afraid for you. That's different."
Something inside his chest softened painfully, visibly.
He reached for her face slowly, like expecting her to flinch.
She didn't.
His fingers brushed her jaw, warm and trembling.
"You're the only person who ever looked at me like I wasn't a monster," he whispered.
"You're not."
He closed his eyes. "If I stay with you, they'll come for us both."
"Let them," she said.
He opened his eyes.
And for the first time, she saw fear that wasn't for himself.
It was for her.
"Amira," he said hoarsely, "I can survive Vass. I can survive the Syndicate. But if something happens to you because of me…"
His voice broke.
"…I won't survive that."
She stepped closer, pressing her forehead against his.
"Then let me choose. Let me stand beside you. Not behind you."
He let out a shaky breath part relief, part surrender.
His hands cupped her face.
"Then you need to hear the last part," he whispered. "The part that matters most."
Amira's breath caught.
Leonardo hesitated…
Then finally spoke the truth he'd buried deepest.
"Matteo wasn't my only mistake."
Amira frowned. "What do you mean?"
Leonardo swallowed.
"The night Matteo died… someone else saw what I did. Someone who shouldn't have been there."
She went still.
"Who?"
Leonardo's voice dropped to a whisper.
"A girl. About our age. Someone Matteo was trying to protect."
A pause.
"She ran when she saw me shoot him. She disappeared. And weeks later, the Syndicate found out someone had leaked information."
Amira's chest tightened.
"Leo"
"Before the Syndicate punished me, before they could ask me to do the unthinkable… she vanished." His throat worked. "And rumors started spreading that Matteo had a witness. Someone who knew the truth. Someone the Syndicate needed dead."
The realization hit her cold and sharp.
"Are you saying"
Leonardo nodded slowly.
"Yes. That girl."
He exhaled shakily.
"The one Matteo protected… the one who saw me kill him… the one who disappeared "
His eyes met hers, full of fear and recognition.
"Amira… it was you."