Dante
The engagement party was supposed to be about control. Order. Proof that the Romanos were untouchable, that the Carusos had bent, and that the alliance was sealed with the press of a ring. And for most of the night, it looked exactly like that.
Until he showed up.
Rafé.
I hadn’t heard the name in years, but the second I saw the way he looked at her, I knew. His presence cut through the crowd like smoke through glass, and when his eyes locked on Serafina, there was nothing subtle about it. The air between them went taut, stretched with history.
And Serafina… she looked back.
Not like she looked at me—spitting fire, daring me to burn. But softer. Warmer. Like a memory she wasn’t ready to bury.
That alone made my blood boil.
Matteo leaned in from where he lounged against
