Sienna had planned to leave after one hour.
That was the agreement. One hour. Public place. Closure only. Then she'd walk out, call Dante, and officially close the Alessandro chapter of her life.
But here she was, two hours in, and neither of them had moved.
It started innocently enough. Alessandro had apologized. Sienna had acknowledged it. They'd talked about his therapy, her work, the surface-level stuff that felt safe.
Then Alessandro had asked about her mother.
"How is she? With everything that's been in the news?"
Sienna had laughed bitterly. "She called to ask if I was going back to you. Said you were richer than Dante."
Alessandro had winced. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. That's just who she is. She spent her whole life surviving. Money represents safety to her. Everything else is secondary."
"Do you resent her for that?"
The question caught Sienna off guard. No one had ever asked her that before. Not even Dr. Chen.
