Chapter 5 The warning

I didn't expect to get caught.

Actually-scratch that I didn't plan to get caught.

But a small part of me knew the second I stepped into that hallway, I was doing something stupid.

And now?

Now I was standing there frozen like someone had dumped ice water down my spine.

Leo.

Right in front of me.

And the look on his face?

No smirk. No charm. No flirtatious glint in his eye.

Just... disappointment.

Worse than anger, somehow.

The quiet kind of anger.

The kind that seeps under your skin and makes your palms sweat, your heartbeat trip over itself, your throat close up without warning.

"Elena," he said, voice low, tight. "What the hell are you doing here?"

My mouth opened.

Nothing came out.

My brain screamed say something! but my throat wouldn't cooperate.

I swallowed once. Then again.

Finally, I forced out, "I-I just..."

"Don't," he cut me off. "Don't give me some excuse. I saw you. You were looking at the shelf. The photo's gone now-so what exactly were you trying to find?"

His voice wasn't like Dante's.

Dante's voice was ice. Sharp and detached, like he didn't care if you lived or died.

But Leo's?

His voice was usually warm. Soft-edged.

It made people feel safe.

Not now.

Now that warmth was stripped clean.

What was left made my hands shake.

He took a step closer.

Not threatening. But enough to make my back bump against the cold wall behind me.

"Dante warned you not to snoop."

I nodded quickly. "I-I know. I just-"

"What were you hoping to find?" he asked, quieter this time. "Do you really think you can handle whatever truth you're digging for?"

I looked down.

Embarrassed.

Ashamed.

Mad at myself for getting caught like a dumbass.

I wanted to explain.

That I wasn't trying to start trouble.

That I didn't mean to make this weird.

That it was just... the photo. The way my dad looked in it. How some gut feeling told me I wasn't imagining things.

But no words came out.

Instead, my hands just clenched and unclenched at my sides until finally I mumbled, "I didn't mean to. I really didn't. I just-I saw something the other day and-"

"You need to stop," Leo said, firmer now. "Seriously. Just stop."

I looked up again.

And what I saw in his eyes made me shiver.

Not rage.

Not judgment.

But something worse.

Warning.

Like he knew what would happen if Dante found out.

Like he wouldn't be able to protect me next time.

"You got this job for a reason," he said. "You're good with Luca. That's all Dante cares about. But if he thinks for a second that you're here for any other reason..."

He didn't finish.

He didn't have to.

My stomach dropped.

"I get it," I whispered, too fast. "I swear. I'm done. I won't-I won't do it again."

Leo studied me for a long, tense second.

Then he nodded once.

"Good."

And just like that, he turned and walked away.

I stood there, frozen. Still too rattled to move.

The hallway suddenly felt colder than before.

My fingers rubbed together out of instinct, though I wasn't cold.

I just... needed to feel something. Anything.

Because that?

That was too close.

Way too close.

I walked quickly back to the east wing, back to where I belonged.

Luca was still sprawled across the floor, playing with plastic astronauts.

The second he saw me, he lit up.

"Miss Elena! You missed the moon battle!"

I forced a laugh. "Oh no. Not the moon battle."

"Don't worry," he said proudly, holding up a weird little green alien. "You can still save the galaxy."

I sat down beside him, trying to shove my racing thoughts out of my brain and focus on him.

On the way his curls bounced when he got excited.

The way his hands moved so fast you could barely keep up.

The way his eyes lit up like tiny galaxies when he talked about space.

This.

This was why I came here.

Not to dig up the past. Not to cause problems.

I just needed a job. A new beginning. Something steady for once in my life.

And now I was already screwing it up.

The rest of the day passed in a blur.

Lunch.

Playtime.

More online lessons.

Snack at four.

I followed every single rule to the letter.

No wandering.

No questions.

No hallway.

I did everything right.

But my brain wouldn't stop spiraling.

Leo's voice.

His tone.

That look in his eyes that said:

"If you keep going, something bad will happen."

And my room upstairs?

Big. Clean. Empty.

No warmth. No light. Just silence.

Even the air in that house felt off-too still. Like it was holding its breath.

How the hell was I supposed to live here?

And worst of all?

Leo.

The charming, funny twin with the smile?

He had a Dante side.

And I saw it today.

Sharp edges under the charm.

Maybe they were more alike than I thought.

What I didn't know?

Someone else saw everything.

Dante had been passing through the west hallway, on his way back from the lower wing-where he kept the things he didn't want anyone seeing.

He never walked that route during the day.

But today? He did.

And what he saw...

Leo.

Standing too close to me.

His hand brushing my arm.

The tension in my shoulders.

The look on my face-guilty.

Leo's voice low, serious.

My eyes wide.

Dante couldn't hear what we were saying.

But he didn't need to.

He could read body language like a script.

And from where he stood, it didn't look flirtatious.

It looked like a warning.

A secret.

A threat.

And Dante hated secrets.

Especially ones involving his brother.

And his nanny.

He stood in the shadows for a full minute.

Watching. Processing. Silently seething.

Then he turned and walked away.

Back to his office.

Back to his world of silence and steel.

But something inside him had shifted.

And once Dante Moretti started suspecting you?

There was no un-suspecting you.