“What are you… trying to do—”

“You don’t know?”

 

Theodoro lazily lifted the corner of his mouth. 

 

With a laugh that was somewhere between a sneer and a smile, his solid arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close.

 

“Let’s see how well you’ve learned.”

 

Her bewildered eyes darted around, unable to find a focus.

 

Does he intend to dance? Now? Suddenly? Why? 

 

She couldn’t even voice the questions flooding her mind.

 

It was the first time she realized that when a person is too flustered, they can’t even properly open their mouth.

 

“Lilia.”

 

The familiar nickname he called her by.

 

As she stiffly lifted her head, the man who filled her entire vision looked down at her with an inescapable gaze.

 

“You’ve been learning for three weeks, and I still have to position you?”

 

“Ah…”

 

Before the dazed Lilia could gather her wits, Theodoro’s hand moved first. His warm palm slid up her side, causing her eyes to snap shut.

“…Hngh!”

 

A strange sensation bloomed intensely from her chest, brushed in an instant. Her body flinched and trembled, but his touch continued unabated.

 

A large hand supporting her right arm guided it smoothly all the way to her wrist… 

 

Upon reaching its destination, it grasped her slender hand as if claiming it.

 

And Theodoro took another step forward, closing the distance between their bodies seamlessly.

 

When her lost left arm, in its confusion, wrapped around his broad shoulder… the heat from his searing palm spread over her shoulder blade, left exposed by the halter neck of her dress.

 

“Whew…”

Lilia’s closed eyelids fluttered delicately.

 

A tingling sensation lingered everywhere his touch had been. She couldn’t understand why she was reacting like this.

 

Liliana was in the same position she had been in countless times with Wayne. 

 

It was so similar it felt identical; the only thing different was that it was Theodoro, not Wayne.

 

“Why?”

 

It was as if he had sensed her reaction. His low voice tickled her ear. 

 

Liliana tried to hide her burning cheeks and began to move her feet, following his lead.

 

“I-I’m just flustered… Suddenly, like this…”

 

What was I even saying? 

 

And in what state of mind was she spinning around the dance hall?

 

It felt like everything she had learned over the past three weeks had flown right out of her head. 

 

The only thing she could count on was her body reflexively responding to his smooth lead—was that something to be grateful for?

 

Theodoro took wide, deep steps, connecting his movements without any excess. He pushed their joined hands firmly and pulled her waist sharply, causing Liliana’s body to arch back as if she were lying down.

 

“…!”

 

Reflected in her wide-open eyes was Theodoro’s face, smirking.

 

“It’s not like this is our first time dancing together. Is it?”

 

No. Of course, it wasn’t their first time…

 

‘What…? Why is this…?’

 

As she was effortlessly pulled back up into Theodoro’s embrace, Liliana rolled her bewildered eyes around.

 

Why was she suddenly dancing the tango with him? More than that, the question of why he was so skilled occupied her mind.

 

Wayne had clearly told her she had talent. But wasn’t the talent on his side, not hers?

 

She had never once seen him dance properly. At most, he had moved slowly while holding her, and she had never even heard that he knew how to dance the tango.

 

“H-have you… learned the tango…?”

 

“That doesn’t seem important.”

 

A faint laugh from him, transmitted through their touching bodies as a small vibration. 

 

Before the shallow tremor could even fade, Theodoro, his arm firmly around her waist, spun them. Her body rotated smoothly around him as the central axis. Her pale leg extended through the long, open slit of her dress.

 

The tip of her foot swept the floor, tracing a large circle, and in time with the movement, the hem of her dress fluttered beautifully.

 

At the end of the elegant motion, her calf, carried by momentum, wrapped around Theodoro’s leg. 

 

The dress, which had been spread in the air like butterfly wings, settled down calmly.

 

“…Lilia.”

 

“…”

 

And Theodoro stopped in that position, moving no more.

 

A moment where the music continued to flow, but everything else seemed to stop. 

 

A moment where only two cold eyes were staring straight at her.

 

Belatedly, Lilia realized. There was not a shred of the meaning of ‘laughter‘ in the faint laugh Theodoro had let out.

 

‘Ah…’

 

He was right. This was no time to be harboring such trivial doubts about why he was so proficient at dancing the tango.

 

“So you did learn how to dance?”

 

“…W-well, yes…”

 

“I thought you’d neglected the tango for other things.”

 

Theodoro twisted his lips into a slight smirk and pulled her thigh, which was wrapped around his leg, tightly. A low whisper flowed into her ear.

 

“Lilia. I don’t care who you meet or what you do with them.”

 

“…!”

 

Her heart plummeted silently towards the floor. He had only uttered those three sentences, but how could she not understand why he was saying this?

 

The memory of her casual kiss with Wayne flashed through her mind, and her face turned pale.

 

‘How does he know…. Did Silvano earlier…?’

 

Liliana didn’t want to hear anymore, but that was merely her wish. The voice constricting her heart didn’t stop.

 

“Whether you’re kissing or rolling around in bed. I don’t care about that.”

 

“No… I, why would I…”

 

Liliana couldn’t even finish her stammered words, which sounded like an excuse.

 

Theodoro bowed his head, his persistent breath clinging to her nape like a noose tightening around her neck.

 

“Huh…”

 

“You ask why you would do such a thing?”

 

In contrast to the heated breath seeping into her skin, his voice was utterly dry.

 

Theodoro tilted his head slightly and looked at her. A cold sneer hung at the corner of his mouth.

 

“How should I know… But it’s not something you should say after drenching your whole body in another man’s cologne.”

 

“Ah, this is… because of class—”

 

“Liliana Moretti.”

 

The words, cutting her off coldly, and her full name, which he hadn’t used in months. His voice was lower than before.

 

As Liliana stood frozen, unable to even exhale, the arm wrapped around her waist loosened its grip.

 

Theodoro raised that hand and enclosed Liliana’s slender neck. 

 

It was subtle and slow, like a movement in a tango.

 

“It’s not like we’re real lovers. I’m not going to say something as ridiculous as telling you to remain chaste.”

 

“Ugh…”

 

“I’m just asking you to behave properly.”

 

He slid his thumb up, slowly stroking Liliana’s skin. All the way up to her finely trembling chin.

 

“Huh, ugh… Theo…”

 

If anyone had seen the two from a distance, they might have mistaken them for passionate lovers unable to control their affection.

 

“Don’t let anyone see you…”

 

But in reality, not a single sweet nothing of love fell from his lips.

 

“That cheap cologne stink from your so-called teacher. I’m telling you not to go around reeking of it everywhere.”

 

💫

 

At 7:00 PM. Blue Moon Nightclub.

 

As if nothing had happened just an hour ago, the spacious hall was now filled with the sounds of Bossa Nova jazz by Tom Jobim, not a tango.

 

The once empty club was now bustling with people. 

 

Everyone had settled into small groups of three or five at tables, watching the performance, sipping drinks, and chatting.

 

And Liliana… she was also sitting there, at one of the round tables, her face pale. She wanted nothing more than to run out immediately, but she couldn’t.

 

Her gaze shifted slightly to the man standing there—Carmine Lombardi, boss of the Lombardi family, conversing with Theodoro.

 

Yes, it was because of him.

 

Somehow, she had already lost count of how many times she had met with him, forming a close relationship. 

 

This was deeply connected to Gasparo Corella’s activities over the past three months.

 

After Benjamin Wolf’s death, as expected, Gasparo took over the real power of Murder Inc.

 

And that wasn’t all. Some of the labor unions where Benjamin had held influence also fell into his hands… 

 

For a while, Gasparo must have been busy dealing with the mountain of tasks piled up before him, putting his alliance with Luciano on the back burner.

 

Someone suddenly went missing. Someone was suddenly found dead.

 

Judging by the constant stream of such stories, it seemed Gasparo was utterly consumed with reshaping the company and the unions to his liking.

 

Because of this, it wasn’t as if she and Theodoro could relax just because things had been quiet. 

 

Once the purges were over, Gasparo would begin moving in earnest, backed by his notorious company.

 

Therefore, Theodoro and Liliana also had to prepare for that. 

 

However, merely gathering allies within the organization was nowhere near sufficient.

 

“Allen Goldberg…”

 

“What?”

 

“It would be very good for us if we could join forces with Allen Goldberg.”

 

“Hah…”

 

When she said that, Theodoro just let out a hollow laugh, as if telling her to say something that made sense.

 

It was understandable. 

 

The man was the former head of the now-defunct crime syndicate ‘The Syndicate’. 

 

Getting someone of that magnitude on their side, a man who wielded immense influence even within the Mafia Commission despite his Jordanian heritage, was no easy task.

 

Liliana knew it too, of course. She knew that Theodoro’s organization wasn’t yet strong enough to win him over.

 

But even if it was impossible ‘for now’, who knew what the ‘future‘ might hold? 

 

If they grew their power with Allen Goldberg as the ultimate goal, it might not be entirely impossible.

 

With such grand ambitions, the search for external allies began… 

 

And one of them was Carmine Lombardi, who was right in front of her.

 

‘At this point, it’s safe to say the Lombardi family has joined forces with us.’

 

Liliana took a sip of her drink, moistening her lips, and quietly observed him.

 

To her, he was more than just an allied faction. With Benjamin Wolf dead, Lombardi was the one to take over his role in the plan to assassinate President Findel.

 

“By the way, are you two attending the party this weekend?”

 

When he suddenly turned his body towards her, Liliana, who was in the middle of drinking, choked and burst into a fit of coughing. 

 

Of all times, he had to turn his head just when she was staring right at him.

 

“Cough… Cough.”

 

“That birthday party?”

 

Theodoro kept his gaze fixed on him, subtly handing over a handkerchief as he continued.

 

“What was the name again? The daughter of some judge.”

 

“Judith, the only daughter of Andrew Whitmore. It’s just my personal opinion, but I think it would be better for us to go.”