Jace had never imagined that after Jay confessed the truth, the entire Moretti family would treat him this way. It was overwhelming.
He had prepared himself for rejection, cold stares, uncomfortable silences, disgust and doubts. He had braced himself for Alessandro's hard questions, Lina's icy distance, Nonna's disapproval. He had spent sleepless nights imagining the worst-case scenarios, rehearsing answers to questions that might never come.
But instead—
Everyone had welcomed him with such effortless warmth that he didn't quite know how to react.
Lina had asked whether he was eating enough. She had looked at him with those sharp, perceptive eyes and said, "You look thinner than last time. Are you sleeping properly?" It was such a simple, maternal question that it had caught him off guard.
Alessandro had invited him to play chess later.
