SERAPHINA’S POV
There is a strange quiet that comes after danger brushes too close, not relief exactly, more like awareness settling into your bones. I felt it when I woke that morning, the apartment too still, the city muted beyond the windows, as if even Rome was holding its breath.
Alessio was already awake.
I knew it before I saw him, the space beside me cool, the air charged with purpose. He stood by the window, phone in hand, shoulders tense, eyes sharp. He looked carved from control, like the world bent itself around his decisions.
For the first time since coming to Italy, I wondered what it truly meant to stand beside a man like him.
Not romantically, not emotionally, but strategically.
I rose quietly, wrapping the robe around myself, watching him from a distance. There was
