Chapter 280 24

Chapter 280 24
Reyna POV

The silence stretches long after the name flashes across the screen.

Luca's name.

I can feel the weight of the situation press into my chest, harder than the gunfire, harder than the explosion at the docks. My hands shake as I shove the laptop toward him. "Explain this."

His jaw locks, his eyes dark. He doesn't reach for the laptop, doesn't even glance at me. he just stands there, silent.

"Don't you dare stand there and act like this means nothing," I snap, my voice sharp, cracking. "Your name is tied to Francesca's accounts. Francesca. The woman who kidnapped Ana and Bianca. The woman who almost ruined everything. Tell me why."

Finally, he looks at me. His eyes are cold, but under the steel I see something else. Something he doesn't want me to see.

"I worked with her once," he says. His voice is low, steady, too controlled. "Before I even knew what she was planning."

I blink, my throat tight. "Worked with her? You were on her payroll?"

"It wasn't like that," he snaps, his temper flashing for the first time. He drags a hand through his hair, pacing once before facing me again. "It was just a favor. An exchange of secrets. I didn't know about Ana. I didn't know about Bianca. I didn't know what she was using the ship for."

"The ship?," I repeat, my voice bitter, sharp. "You Gave her the ship, you knew about dock 27 the whole time and you didn't see it fit to tell us?"

His jaw flexes. "I didn't have a choice Reyna,I'm used to granting favors for the Grayson girls but this time it had to be behind Dante's back, it was supposed to mean nothing.. Just provide and hide a measly ship."

I laugh, but it sounds broken, ugly. "That's it? You expect me to just take your word for it?"

His eyes harden. "I'm still here, aren't I? If I was hers, I'd be dead with her. You think Dante would've kept me around if I was part of that?"

I don't answer. I can't. My chest feels too tight, like I can't breathe.

Because a part of me wants to believe him, I want to trust the man who's dragged me through fire and bullets and still kept me breathing. But another part of me, the louder and sharper me reminds me that every warning I've gotten has been about him.

"He will betray you too."

"Reyna," he says, softer now. He takes a step closer, but I flinch back before he can touch me. His face tightens. "I didn't know. I swear to you, I didn't know what she was doing. You have to believe that."

I shake my head. "You said you were exchanging your secret for a favour, what was the favour?." I ask my voice shaking

He shifts uncomfortably, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"Tell me!!"

The words come out harsher than I mean them, but maybe that's the truth. Maybe it needs to be harsh.

His eyes flash with something I can't place, anger, hurt, maybe both. The tension between us twists until I can barely stand still.

"You don't get it," he mutters, his voice rough. "I'm not the enemy here."

"Then stop acting like one and tell me the fucking truth!," I fire back.

The room feels like it's closing in, every word sharp enough to cut. My chest is heaving, my hands clenched at my sides, and for a second it feels like the fight might tear us both apart.

"My parents are alive but to get the job with Dante I lied about it.. He needed someone who would be a shadow, invisible" hesitates

"So I lied, I told him they were dead and I have been lying to him for the past 10 years" he finally reveals the truth "Francesca found out about it and Dante hates lies, he would fire me immediately!! And this job is my life, Reyna.."

And then-

A voice cuts through the silence. Low and dangerous.

"What the hell did I just hear?"

My stomach drops.

Dante is standing in the doorway.