The ride to Nicky's apartment had been too quiet.
So quiet it made her skin prickle. She sat stiffly beside him, not speaking, not daring to. The silence wasn't peaceful, it was loaded. She could almost see the gears turning in his head, thoughts cycling faster than the traffic outside.
They had known the press conference wouldn't go smoothly.
But that?
That had been a disaster. Much, much worse than they had expected.
And she didn't know how to reach for him without making it worse.
She wondered if the others were rushing back to his apartment as frantically as they had. Were Luca and the rest caught in the same frantic energy, eyes glued to their phones, hearts pounding with every headline? Or were they already planning what came next, how to fix the mess, and how to manage the storm?
When they arrived, Nicky still didn't speak. He opened the door in silence, took Eliana's hand without looking at her, and led her inside.
She followed, her steps careful. Her heart heavy.
