Later that afternoon, someone knocked softly on my door. It was Aria, holding two mugs of tea. She looked at me sympathetically and sat on the edge of my bed.
"He's an idiot," she said to greet me.
I took the offered mug; the warmth was a small comfort. "That's one way to put it."
"Don't take it personally, Bella," she said earnestly. "It's not you. It's him. It's just how he is. The closer he gets to someone, the more he feels the need to push them away."
"Why?" I asked, still hurt. "Why would he do that?"
"Because that's how he protects things," she explained, her expression sad. "In his mind, love and affection are vulnerabilities. They are weaknesses an enemy can use against you. He has spent his whole life making sure no one can ever hurt him. The only way he knows how to do that is by keeping the world at a distance. Now that he cares for you, he sees you as his greatest weakness. So, he's trying to put you back in a box labeled 'business obligation.' He thinks if he's distant, his enemies won't see how much you matter. He believes it will keep you safe."
Her explanation unlocked a piece of the puzzle I couldn't see. It didn't erase the sting of his rejection, but it reframed it. It wasn't about me; it was about his own deep-seated trauma.
"So I'm just supposed to accept being treated like an employee he dislikes?" I asked, a spark of my old fire returning.
"No," Aria said, a sly, determined glint in her eye. "You're supposed to fight back. But not against him. With him. You two are miserable when you're apart and terrified when you're together. The only time you connect is when you have a common enemy."
Aria leaned in and lowered her voice. "The Valerius investigation. You're a law student. You're great with technology. You have a right to know what's going on. More than that, you have a right to be involved. He can't keep you locked in this room forever. We have to make you essential to his work. If he has to see you as a partner instead of a patient, he won't be able to hide behind this professional distance nonsense."
A plan began to form in my mind. She was right. I was tired of being a passive victim, a patient to be managed. I had taken a hit in this war; it was time to start acting like a soldier. My legal mind and tech skills were my weapons. It was time to use them.
"Okay," I said, a new resolve hardening my voice. "He wants professional distance? He's going to get the most professional, indispensable colleague he's ever had."
Aria grinned triumphantly. A new alliance was forged, not just between friends, but between two women determined to save Dante Moretti from himself.