(Melissa pov)
The anger refused to leave me. It wasn’t a fleeting spark that could be doused with reason or distraction. It had burrowed deep, a slow-burning ember lodged beneath my ribs, flaring to life every time my mind replayed the scene in Adriano’s study.
Valentina.
The way she had glided into that room like it was still hers, her presence filling the space with a confidence I could never match. The subtle tilt of her head, the knowing curve of her lips as she leaned toward him. The low, velvet timbre of her voice, intimate, charged, heavy with history. She had touched the edge of his table the way a lover might trace skin, reminding him and me of everything they once shared.
And Adriano… he hadn’t pulled away. Not immediately. He had stood there, rigid and commanding as al
