[Salvo's Pov]
Bianca didn't say a word.
But silence? Silence can scream if you know how to listen.
She sat there in that damn chair of hers, knuckles pale as snow against the wheels, eyes glassy and locked on the stairs—like she expected Alfio to come crawling back down with shackles on his ankles.
She didn't say it.But she wanted to, and she did.
"But brother…" Bianca's voice was quiet, but not weak—never weak. Her knuckles were white against the wheels of her chair as she looked at me with something between heartbreak and fury. "I still think you're going too far. Can we not treat him like a dog, at least?"
I stared at her.
Silent.
Unblinking.
Then I laughed—dry, low, and bitter. A sound with no joy in it, just exhaustion and venom.
"A dog, huh?" I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, fingers laced, voice like gravel dipped in oil. "Bianca… dogs are loyal. They come when called. They don't run off and lick the hands of every man who whistles at them."
