Chapter 76

Alessandro

The night bled into morning before I realized I hadn’t closed my eyes. Sleep was too much of a luxury lately, and I would rather not have it. Why? I couldn’t afford it, not now.

It was far too indulgent when the ground beneath my house felt like it was constantly shifting, pulling away like sand under pressure. I sat at my desk, the pale blue glow of surveillance monitors casting my face in cold light. Each frame flickered with seconds of silence, hallways, corners, the edges of rooms I’d memorized down to their creaks and shadows. Still, I watched and waited.

The footage I needed didn’t scream, it only whispered, showing patterns and repeated motions. The same figure passing through different times, different doors. Marco.

I had gotten too engrossed in watching Marco’s movement, I hadn’t thought to check for other rooms and their surveillance. I told myself that could wait. Maybe Marco was all I needed. Maybe I was afraid of what I would fi