The morning after the gala wasn’t quiet.
Milan buzzed like a hive cracked open. News anchors screamed headlines Rose never thought she'd hear in real time.
“Rosa DeLuca alive?”
“Lorenzo Mancini under fire for trafficking allegations.”
“Mancini Memorial Gala turns into scandal.”
She stood in Killian’s penthouse kitchen, coffee untouched, arms folded, her reflection split across the windows like a ghost she hadn’t fully shaken off yet. Her jaw clenched as she watched the chaos she’d unleashed take shape across the screen. Every flicker of her name, every still image from the gala, every tweet and newsflash—it made her stomach twist, not from regret but from the adrenaline crash.
Killian flipped through TV channels like he was watching a game. “You’re trending. Number one in Europe. Con
