Chapter 63. The Umbria Territory

“What nonsense are you spewing?” Rico asked, moving behind his desk and tossing his broken phone into the drawer. He pulled out a brand-new one and slid his SIM card in.

“You and Lyra! You guys are so cuteeee!—”

“That’s enough,” he cut her off, his voice low, firm, and cold. He felt the annoyance bubbling inside him—not at Sofia, but at this strange, unfamiliar tug he couldn’t quite place.

He ran a hand through his hair, trying to shake it off, but it lingered, a weight he wasn’t used to carrying. He didn’t like feeling this… distracted. He hated that her name could even make his chest tighten.

Sofia, oblivious to the storm inside him, grinned. “I mean it! You two are so perfect together!”

Rico’s jaw tightened, and he turned back to his papers, arranging the files like he wasn’t the one who scattered them. He tried to focus. “I told you, Sofia… drop it.”

Even as he spoke, part of him couldn’t deny it. But he’s too much of a proud man to admit that