Adrian hadn’t spoken a word since they left Florence.
The car ride back to the estate had been tense, the kind of silence that wasn’t empty but dangerous. Controlled. His jaw was tight, one hand on the wheel, the other twitching like he wanted to grab something, her, maybe. Or a gun. Maybe both.
Valentina sat beside him, staring out the window. Her reflection flickered in the glass sharp eyes, unreadable expression. The woman who stood before kings and made them listen. The woman he brought into a war, expecting her to break.
She hadn’t.
And that terrified him more than anything.
****************************
Back at the estate, the night air was cool, crisp. Valentina walked in first. Adrian followed, eyes on her back like a predator stalking something he couldn’t quite kill.
He wat
