Chapter 24
Bianca attended a Blue Room concert when Nico was twenty-one.
Because Nico invited her.
That mattered.
She had not entered a Greco foundation event in eighteen years.
Rachel asked twice whether Nico was sure.
Vittorio asked once.
That was progress.
Bianca arrived through the public entrance.
No staff access.
No backstage badge.
No donor privileges restored because she was family.
She bought a ticket.
Nico liked that detail.
He met her near the lobby.
She looked toward Claire’s photograph.
Then toward him.
“Are you okay?”
Bianca asked.
Nico almost laughed.
The question used to belong in the other direction.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
The repaired airplane remained beneath Claire’s photograph.
Still there after all those years.
Its blue paint had faded slightly.
The crack remained visible.
Bianca stopped in front of it.
Nico watched.
“That’s it.”
“Yes.”
“You kept it.”
“The foundation did.”
She looked at the broken wing.
“I’m sorry.”
Nico said nothing.
No need.
They entered the concert.
Children used adaptive keyboards.
Percussion stations.
Electronic breath controllers.
One boy operated a drum pad with a head switch.
Bianca watched.
Then whispered:
“Claire would’ve loved this.”
Nico’s body tightened.
She noticed.
“Sorry.”
“Why?”
“I shouldn’t tell you what your mother would feel.”
That surprised him.
Good.
Nico thought.
“She probably would.”
Both could be true.
Afterward Bianca asked whether he wanted dinner.
Nico said no.
She nodded.
No face.
No pressure.
Three months later he invited her to coffee.
Then did not see her for five months.
Their relationship became uneven.
That was healthy.
Bianca occasionally asked too many questions about Vittorio.
Nico stopped her.
“I’m not messenger.”
She apologized.
Once she complained that Vittorio still refused private family holidays with her.
Nico looked at her.
“That’s Dad’s relationship.”
Bianca stopped.
Good.
Family access had finally separated into individual relationships.
Nico could see his aunt.
Vittorio did not have to restore his sister.
One did not purchase the other.
Owen remained outside Nico’s life.
By choice.
Nico read two letters.
Asked three questions.
Never requested a meeting.
Also valid.
At twenty-three, Bianca asked Nico whether he believed people could change.
He answered:
“Yes.”
Her face softened.
Then he continued:
“That doesn’t answer who gets access.”
The softness disappeared.
Then returned differently.
“Right.”
Better.
May you like
Bianca had changed enough to understand the sentence.
Nico had changed enough not to need her understanding before enforcing it.
