“Your weakness was us,” I said.

“My love for you was the only real thing I had,” he said.

The silence stretched between us, heavy and thick with the scent of old paper and rain.

I looked at the documents again, seeing them not as financial records, but as a map of his retreat from the dark.

He had tried to tear down his father’s legacy brick by brick just to build a wall around us.

“Does Dr. Sullivan know about this?” I asked, trying to ground myself.

“He knows I am no longer the man I was,” Giovanni said. “That is why he agreed to come here tonight. He trusts my reform, even if the city doesn’t.”

I closed the folder slowly, the heavy paper making a soft clicking sound against the desk.

“Luca’s fever is breaking,” I said.

A faint look of relief washed over his face, softening the harsh lines around his eyes.

“Clara is a good nurse,” he said. “She will keep him safe.”

“We aren’t safe, Giovanni,” I said, looking toward the dark window. “Even with all of this gone, Marcus is still out there.”