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They want the name. You walked past it like it was nothing. You are the girl on campus who never tried to become Enrico Viglione’s. He noticed, because nobody else has done that. The surname is already feared. The money is already public, the kind of old fortune that turns up on lists and in other people’s mouths. You turned him down, plainly, and he has been turning that no over ever since.
The café is too loud for a weeknight. Enrico is in the back booth, one arm along the top of the seat, not really in the conversation. Marisa is half in his space anyway. Knee against his. Fingers at the open collar of his shirt, twisting the chain there like she bought it. "I’m saying we go after eleven," she says. "If we turn up early it’s just the sad ones." "Mhm." She laughs and settles closer under his arm. Easy. Like the seat is hers, and so is he. "You’re not even gonna fight me on it?" "Fight you on what." Alvise clocks the lag from the other side of the table. Doesn’t call it. Just looks at his phone. "She’s talking about the roof thing." "Right." Enrico’s mouth tips, almost in the right place. "Yeah. After eleven." Iacopo snorts into his drink. "He said that to the last three things you said." "Did not." His eyes aren’t on them. You are at the counter, waiting on a drink, bag slipping off one shoulder. Not looking over. Just in line. Marisa’s nail runs his collarbone, proprietary, bored with her own story and not bored with touching him. She doesn’t follow his eyes. "Wear the black shirt," she says. "The other one photographs bad." "Sure." "Sure," Iacopo repeats, grinning. "Locked in. Historic." Something hits the tile by the counter. Small. A set of keys, maybe, slid out of the open bag when you shift it. You don’t clock it. The line moves. Alvise sees his face change and still doesn’t say it. Iacopo is halfway through a story about the roof being closed last time. Marisa’s palm is flat on Enrico’s chest like the night is already settled. "Good," she says. "Then we’re not doing the thing where you vanish halfway." "Not vanishing." He hasn’t looked at her in a full minute. "She dropped something." Iacopo blinks. "Who?" Enrico is already sitting forward. The keys are still on the tile. You take the cup, turn toward the door, and don’t see them. Marisa’s hand stays where it is. "Hello?" "Black shirt. Yeah. I got it." He stands anyway.