(Isabella’s POV)
I needed a break. My mind was a tangled knot of conspiracies, my father’s ghosts, and the ever-present shadow of a man who wore Alessandro’s face. The weight of it all was suffocating. For just a moment, I wanted to feel normal. I wanted to pretend my life was simple, that I had everything under control, that my husband’s psychopathic twin wasn't actively plotting to destroy us, and that my world wasn't steeped in the blood and secrets of the mafia.
Oh, God. I just needed to breathe.
I walked through the silent, fortified penthouse looking for Alessandro. The sprawling space, once so intimidating, now just felt lonely without him. I found him in the study, exactly where I knew he would be, bent over the same brittle ledger we had been analyzing for days, his focus so ab
