Dangerous Calm

Chiara’s father struggled to breathe, his chest rising unevenly as Massimo’s question hung in the air like a noose tightening around his neck.

“What did they want?” Massimo repeated, slower this time, colder. “Why take you?”

The older man shook his head weakly, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes. “I… I don’t know everything,” he whispered. “They argued. A lot. Di Stefano kept saying time was