The silence between them lasted for days. It was the kind of silence that wasn't just quiet but suffocating, thick enough to choke on. Every corner of the mansion echoed with it. Meals were eaten at opposite ends of the long dining table. Meetings with his men were conducted without her present. And when they crossed paths in the hallways, neither spoke.
But silence could never last forever.
She found him in the study late one evening, standing before the fireplace, the glow painting his face in shifting golds and shadows. He looked carved from stone, a statue of power and restraint, yet there was something brittle about him, something ready to crack.
"You've been avoiding me," she said, her voice quieter than she intended.
His eyes flicked up from the fire. "And you've been avoiding me too."
The sharpness in his tone made her flinch, but she pressed on. "We can't keep doing this, Luca. We can't keep tearing each other apart in silence."
