*ADELINE*
The sunlight filtered through the heavy curtains of my room, casting stripes of warmth across the bed. I blinked awake, smiling at the residual joy that still lingered from the night before. I had faced Robert Senior, reclaimed my family's jewel, and danced with Vincenzo. Oh, that dance! My heart raced just thinking about it. Vincenzo had spun me around like I was the only person in the room, his intense gaze making my skin tingle. One moment, he was charming and graceful, an impromptu Romeo, and the next, he morphed into something darker, a dangerous mafia boss hiding behind those irresistible blue eyes.
But his eyes weren't the only ones I remembered from the ball. There was another pair fixated on me almost the entire time we were there—brown ones. The intensity of their gaz
