antonio’s attention shifted immediately the second the blue hair band landed between them, dark eyes settling on it with a stillness that spoke louder than most reactions ever could. for the first time since nevin arrived, his appetite disappeared entirely. he knew exactly what it implied. worse, he knew there was truth buried inside her uncertainty, and the realization sat unpleasantly in his chest because nevin was one of the very few genuinely good people left in his life. she had always treated him with warmth instead of calculation, had offered loyalty and honesty freely in a world where those things were usually transactional. seeing vulnerability creep into her now unsettled him more than he expected. antonio remained quiet for a long moment while his mind carefully navigated the impossible balance between truth and protection. rhett was his friend. one of his oldest. reliable in ways antonio valued deeply. but nevin was his friend too, and unlike most people around the organization, she was innocent of what truly sat beneath all their polished lives. she saw long hours, stress, distance. she did not see blood, money laundering, buried bodies, or the kind of obligations that hollowed men out from the inside over years. antonio understood exactly how someone like rhett could drift into compartmentalization so severe it poisoned everything personal around him. he also understood that none of that justified carelessness. especially not toward a woman sitting across from him quietly questioning her worth while still trying to defend her husband in the same breath. “he mentioned the family plans,” antonio answered carefully at last, voice low and composed, though noticeably gentler than usual. his eyes lifted to meet hers fully then, observant enough to catch every tiny shift in her expression. “and for what it’s worth, i don’t think you’re foolish for wanting that with him.” a faint pause followed before he leaned back slightly in his chair, measured and thoughtful. “rhett is…” his jaw tightened subtly around the words. “a complicated man when it comes to balance.” perhaps the understatement of the century. antonio knew better than most how consuming their world became once it truly dug its claws into someone. how easy it was to begin treating personal relationships like things to maintain rather than nurture. the irony of him recognizing that now, after his own failures with tatianna and asena alike, was not lost on him. “he carries a great deal quietly,” he continued, careful not to outright lie to her while equally unwilling to expose truths that would only endanger her further. “and sometimes men convince themselves that compartmentalizing is the same thing as protecting the people they love.” his fingers finally nudged the blue band lightly across the table, expression unreadable for half a second before softening again around the edges. “but uncertainty like this festers, nev.” the nickname came naturally, familiar and sincere. “and you deserve clarity, not management.”
antonio exhaled slowly then, gaze drifting briefly toward the office windows before returning to her. sympathy sat strangely on him, quieter than tenderness but no less real. he understood more than she realized about feeling like an ornament in someone else’s carefully constructed life. tatianna had practically accused him of the same thing months ago, and now here sat nevin voicing a similar ache from the opposite side of marriage. it left a bitter taste in his mouth. “for what it’s worth,” he said after a moment, tone more personal now, “i don’t think this has anything to do with you lacking something.” he held her gaze steadily there, deliberate in his sincerity. “you are intelligent, attentive, beautiful, loyal to a fault, and frankly far more patient than most people would be.” the compliment was not flirtation. antonio respected nevin too much for that. “men like rhett…” a faint, humorless breath left him. “men like us sometimes become so consumed by obligation and pressure that we start responding to comfort poorly. we seek distraction instead of resolution.” his expression darkened slightly then, not angry at her but quietly resentful toward the situation itself. because despite his loyalty to rhett, antonio found infidelity profoundly careless. messy. selfish. especially when it risked destabilizing one of the few stable things left in a man’s life. “i’m not going to insult your intelligence by pretending you imagined this,” he admitted finally, carefully choosing honesty without fully betraying his friend. “but i am telling you not to make decisions tonight based solely on fear.” his eyes flicked once more toward the hair band between them before settling back on her face. “and if you choose to confront him, do it because you want truth. not because you want to punish yourself with assumptions.”
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