Brianna’s POV
Returning to Rome is like stepping back into a theatre where the script has already been written for me. The gates open, the guards nod, and the air itself feels colder, heavier, as if the city has been waiting to swallow me whole again.
Matteo is the first to greet me. He stands in the foyer, arms crossed, eyes assessing me the way a collector looks over a prized possession to ensure it hasn’t been damaged in transit. But when he steps closer, his mask slips just enough for me to see something unexpected.
“I missed you,” he admits, his tone gruff, reluctant, as though the words are dragged from him.
I blink, startled. Matteo De Luca does not admit to missing anyone.
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “With you gone, everyone was on my back. Where would I be? Whe
