Tina

For two years, Luca had been coming to the house. Sunday dinners, poker nights, family trips — charming, humble, always remembering everyone's birthday. Valentina's father trusted him like a second son. Valentina found him amusing, though not her type. Too young. Too clean. But she liked how he laughed at her jokes, how he never flinched when she teased. Then the anonymous tip came: "Someone inside is feeding information to the Feds. Two years deep." The family went quiet. Valentina smiled. She didn't confront him. That would be clumsy. Instead, she started dropping fake details — false shipment dates, empty meeting locations. Each time, she watched. Each time, she waited. Luca didn't take the bait. But he also didn't ask questions. That was the first crack. Then she sat too close. She whispered things in his ear that weren't true. She watched his eyes — not for guilt, but for calculation. Real friends don't calculate. Real friends react.