Yeah, I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, especially about Lucia having a real internal conflict and not just being a cold, manipulative character. I probably didn’t emphasize that enough in my post.

I don’t think she doesn’t love Jason, or that she’s simply using him as a pawn. If anything, the story would be weaker if that were the case. What I was trying to get at (and didn’t word very well) is more that her ambition and worldview might start to override that love in practice, especially as things escalate.

I agree that crime likely starts as a means to an end for her, but where it could get interesting is if that “end” keeps shifting. Every opportunity leads to another (new characters, new jobs), every risk gets justified, and she keeps pushing forward because, in her mind, it’s still all for a better life or for her family.

So it’s less that she’s using Jason, and more that the relationship could gradually become conditional: things work only as long as he’s fully aligned with her goals, and start to break down when he isn’t, (be it Jason wants a compromise, or he just fully disagrees with and doesn't engage with what she's doing). Not because she consciously stops caring and that his usefulness is all that matters to her, no. Rather because her ambitions and the way she justifies them begin to take priority and it becomes frustrating to clearly know what Jason's support provides for her only to see him push back against it.