*VINCENZO*
I slammed the door of my office shut, irritation simmering just below the surface like a pot of boiling water. The moment I'd heard Jesse's voice buzzing through the intercom, that brief flicker of tranquility I'd felt at the dinner table—nestled across from Adeline—snuffed out like a candle caught in a draft. My fingers flexed and curled into fists at my sides.
Adeline. If I were honest, I'd grown fond of her. There was an inexplicable ease about her presence, like a soothing melody playing just beneath the chaos of my life. I could still smell the lingering notes of her floral perfume, a mélange of jasmine and something sweeter, wrapping around me like an embrace. God, how could something so simple hush the storm inside me? Yet, I knew well enough that the world I lived
