LUCA'S POV
I had been managing her well.
That was what I kept telling myself in the quieter parts of the day. I'd given her enough freedom that she'd stopped fighting me on every small thing. I'd offered her the Matteo angle because Matteo was dead and dead men make safe destinations. I'd handed her two names that pointed everywhere except at me, and she'd taken all of it, thanked me, set the paper down like it barely interested her.
It was the part where she set it down that I couldn't let go of.
Reading people is the only skill that's ever kept me alive. Not the gun, not the name, not the money. People. And people tell you everything, just never through the mouth. The mouth is trained and practiced and quick. What gives you away is slower than that. The hands. The breath. The small half-second your body knows something before your face can cover it.
Serena had read the second name on that paper and her breath changed.
