~ALINA’S POV~
I stood frozen, my breath caught somewhere between my lungs and my heart, which was pounding so hard I thought it might burst free.
Did he really just say it?
“I love you.” His voice was low, steady, but laced with a kind of fierce honesty I never expected.
Valentino Romano, the Devil of Milan himself, had just confessed his love to me.
My mind scrambled, trying to make sense of the impossible.
How? Why?
I didn’t move at first.
I just stood there, cradled in his arms, frozen in time, feeling his breath warm against my hair, his voice echoing in my chest like thunder still rolling through my bones.
I slowly pulled back, just enough to look up at him, my breath catching in my throat.
His arms remained firm around me, but his eyes—God, his eyes—were searching mine wi
