The rain had stopped hours ago, leaving the villa wrapped in a cool hush. Aria stood barefoot on the balcony, her fingers wrapped around the iron railing, staring at the moonlight spilling over the courtyard below. The scars on her heart still ached from betrayal, kidnapping, and almost losing herself, but something else pulsed louder now, a feeling she had fought for months and could no longer ignore.
"Couldn't sleep?" His voice was low and deep, the kind that slid into her bones before she even turned.
Luca stepped out from the shadows of the hallway, still dressed in his black shirt, sleeves rolled up, hair mussed from running his hands through it. He looked less like the terrifying Don who made empires kneel and more like a man stripped bare, vulnerable, and uncertain.
Aria's lips curved faintly. "I could ask you the same thing."
"Sleep hasn't been kind to me lately," he admitted, walking closer. "Not when you're awake and miles away, even when you're right here."
