The air was thick with salt and warmth as Giana stepped onto the sand, her bare feet sinking into the soft golden grains. The rhythmic crash of the waves against the shore brought a sense of calm she hadn’t realized she was craving. The town they had arrived at was small, nestled between cliffs and the endless stretch of the ocean, offering a reprieve from the dangers and pressures of their everyday lives. Cassio had insisted on staying here, in a hotel overlooking the beach, far removed from the world they knew—a place where they could be something more than the roles they’d been assigned.
The hotel was small and intimate, a far cry from the cold, imposing mansions they both came from. Its whitewashed walls blended with the pale sands, and the sound of the sea greeted them at every turn.
