fina

scraping a dull line across the floorboards, over to the family safe. It w

llar bills, each bound in heavy rubber b

st and clung to Rosa's arm. "Oh, Papa, this is too much." She turned

nzo had tossed onto the table in front of

"Oh, I'm sure Mom and Dad just didn't want you to attract the wrong kind of attention." She patte

a reward for your decryption score, sweetie." Rosa turned her gaze to me. Her smile vanished, replaced by a t

essly. "Don't be mean, Mom. It's still something that Sera

stomach. I knew exactly how much manipu

s thudding against the hardwood floor. He tossed two boxes onto the center of the d

cryption gear for my favorite sister.

d jumped out of he

ousand dollars." Luca looked at Serena with pure adorati

chest. "Nothing is too ex

he flap. Inside was an outdated, gray burner tablet. It was the kind of cheap tech

ned silent. I shoved the gray tablet back into the box.

en glance

?" Serena asked in

tired,"

She's just dead weight with a miserable attitude." He pointed th

't even look at me. "She's eccent

door. The heavy wood cut off the laughter an

d of imported delicacies. Everything on the table was Serena's favorite. There were creamy pastas, del

"Can I have a simple, spi

icult." She glared at me from across the table. "Why can't you

ate, fully accepting the reality that my

nnel files, operational weak points. They were already testing me, feeding me fragments to see what I could piece together. I worked until my eyes burned, and for