Chapter 159

Author’s POV. The house had quieted down into that soft, post-dinner lull—where even the shadows on the walls seemed to breathe slower. Distant murmurs echoed from the living room, where the others were watching some awful old mafia film Luca claimed was “a classic.” Someone was already asleep on the couch. Probably Renzo. He always passed out after too much pasta like some kind of carb-loaded bear who was getting ready to hibrenate. Aurelio wasn’t with them. He was in the hallway upstairs, sitting at the edge of his old bedroom—the one he hadn’t dared sleep in yet. Too many pieces of him still scattered like glass inside it. Too many ghosts watching from the corners. He stared at the room like it might bite him. The bed was made. The same comforter. Same shelves. Someone had even fixed the frame of the photo he’d apparently shattered during one of his more violent post-surgery episodes. A picture of the five of them—Sofia in the middle, arms folded, eyes rolling. Him grinning with an