Page 32 of Fastest Kill

Instead of getting in the way, he went around the side of the house, walking down the narrow path that led through a well-tended garden of flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables. Scattered amongst the beds were statues of gods, sea creatures, and, weirdly, a knight with a sword and a fresh flower tucked in its hand.

Dario had no doubt there were stories behind all of them. Everything in the Alesci house had a story. They weren't people to keep anything that wasn't unique or special to them in some way.

Dario stopped at the second terrace that looked out over the harbor and stood at the railing to stare at the lights on the water. He just needed five minutes of quiet before the next part began. He definitely wasn't running away because he was tired and emotional and had to keep his shit together for the good of all.

It will work out. All of this crazy shit always does, he reminded himself.

When he heard footsteps behind him, he didn't have to turn around to know who they belonged to. He had been hearing them for days, and their pattern was etched in his brain. Frederica wanted him to know she was there, or he doubted he would have heard a thing.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a calming breath. She was the other reason he was feeling volatile, but there was no way in hell he was going to let her know that.

"Are you stalking me?" he asked, without turning around. He heard the returning 'fuck off' snort and smiled in the darkness.

14

Frederica noticed Dario's absence the way she noticed everything. It was peripheral, an automatic awareness, because survival had always depended on knowing exactly where the most dangerous person in the room was. Training. That was all it was.

You aren't worried about him, she told herself firmly.

"You should go check on Dario," Athena said, sidling in to stand beside her.

Frederica hesitated before replying, "I don't know if he actually wants company or to be left alone."

"What the fuck do you care? Just go and talk to him, and if he tells you to go, you can say you tried." Athena bumped her shoulder against hers. "Go on, you are pouting, and it's pathetic to watch."

"Fuck you, Edgeworth."

Athena smirked. "Nah, I'm not your type."

"I don't have a type," Frederica teased back, the nonsense lifting some of the weight from her chest.

"Sure you do. He's big and argumentative, and you call him when you get put in jail instead of me," Athena shot back.

"Fuck." Frederica scowled. "Is it that obvious?"

"To me it is, but only because it's the type I like too," Athena replied, and sent a heated look in Kon's direction. "I thought it would get boring being with Kon after a while without our rivalry to keep us on our toes, but it hasn't. It's just gotten better. Sometimes you have to stop being a chicken shit and go after what you want." Athena patted her on the shoulder. "Go on. I'll cover for you if anyone asks where you went. Unless you are a chicken shit."

"You can be a real asshole," Frederica said, and Athena's laughter followed her all the way into the garden.

The terrace on the side of the house was dark, except for the harbor lights below. Dario was at the railing with his back to her, watching the sea and stars.

"Are you stalking me?" he asked, without turning around.

Frederica snorted and moved to the railing beside him. "You wish. You just happen to be in my favorite quiet spot, so move your big ass over."

Below them, the harbor was a string of lights on dark water. She could hear muffled voices inside the house behind them, talking and arguing.

"The others are still going at him," she commented.

"I know."

"Leo wants to know everything about your father. Rodrigo, too, but he's managing it better."

"I know that as well," he replied with a tired sigh. "It's why I'm out here. I can't intervene. They need to be able to make up their own minds about shit."

The Dario she had seen in the past was always moving: the grin, the gesture, the easy claim he had on every room he walked into. This version of him, she was less sure how to read.

"You handled everything well today. They can sort it out from here," she said, because it was true, and it seemed like the kind of thing he needed to hear.