I should have known it wouldn’t be that simple. One meeting, one introduction, one day of playing the part—none of that was ever going to be enough for Luca Giordano. Nothing ever would be.
By the time evening came, I was exhausted in every possible way—mentally, emotionally, physically. Sofia had barely left my side all day. Outfits, posture, how to speak, how to walk, what to say if spoken to. It didn’t feel like preparation anymore. It felt like training, like I was being reshaped into something else entirely. Someone else. His wife.
“Stand still,” Sofia said gently, adjusting the strap of my dress.
I let out a slow breath. “I’ve been standing still all day.”
“And you’ll continue to,” she replied calmly. “Tonight is important.”
Of course it is. Everything is important now.
The dre
