VOWS OF SILENCE

The courthouse steps were always crowded in the mornings, but Isabella Rossi had learned to move through the chaos without noticing it. Files clutched to her chest, heels striking the pavement with quiet confidence, she kept her eyes forward. Focused. Controlled. That was how she liked her world—predictable. Safe. “Avvocato Rossi!” She turned at the sound of her name, offering a quick smile to a colleague before continuing down the steps. The air was cool, carrying the faint scent of rain. It should have felt like any other morning. It didn’t. She felt it before she saw him. A gaze. Heavy. Intentional. Isabella slowed slightly, her grip tightening around the files. Then, almost against her better judgment, she looked across the street. He was standing there. Still. Watching. There was nothing outwardly unusual about him—dark coat, composed posture—but something about his presence felt… wrong. Not loud. Not obvious. Just… dangerous. Their eyes met. For a moment, the noise of the street faded into nothing. His expression didn’t change. Not even slightly. But his gaze held hers with a quiet intensity that made it impossible to look away immediately. Isabella broke the moment first, turning sharply and continuing down the street. “You’re overthinking,” she muttered under her breath. And yet, as she walked, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something had just shifted. That her carefully ordered life had been touched—however briefly—by something she didn’t understand. Across the street, Luca De Santis watched her disappear into the crowd. He had seen enough. Isabella Rossi was nothing like he expected. That made things… complicated. And in his world, complications didn’t end well.