na's

silence. Not the peaceful kind. The loaded, watching kind.

state itself was perched on a hill, a massive villa built from dark limestone with sweeping balconies, arched win

d a word since we left the woods. He didn't apologize. Didn't gloat. He j

d, and still h

He met my gaze. "You'll

ou ask nicely." I rolled my eyes and stepped out. Two men stood by the front doors. One op

ith Latin prayers. A chandelier hung from above, unlit. The floor was black marble

a navy suit with pearls that looked older than the building itself. Her hair was pul

"This is Sofia," Nico said beside me. "Sh

ryo

te

own like I was dirt on h

d simply. Sofia's lip curled

deaf,"

o. Just untrained." I rais

." Nico laughed once and walked away,

s alone, well alone with Sofia an

ly because I wanted to know where

al. The bedroom I was led to had floor-length windows, dark wood floors, and a canopy bed draped in c

aken in the formal dining hall unless otherwise instructed. You will not speak to t

nything I am

nd if I don't follow your rules?" She stepped cl

er met one like me." She left, heels clicking like gunfire. I stood alone

led with ghosts,

d with art that could've belonged to a museum or a mafia crypt. Paintings of old D'Amore ancestors stared down from ever

d my back. Some bowed. Some sneered. A maid dropped a tray when sh

n't b

convent how to study people who u

gle place setting waited at one end. I sat. A servant placed a plate of risotto in front of me, so perfectly pr

ork heavy in my hand, the chandelier above me rattling slightly in the wind. Every bite tasted like rebell

ard a private garden filled with thornbushes and statues of wolves. I paced the grave

I heard th

i

cou

rolled up, tattoos peeking out from under his forearms. "You like to test

taff ha

You're a hurrican

t bow t

expect

urpris

"Why did you brin

anted to see how

ot dro

et

ched mine. "Do you know why our

the blo

ey think if we marry, we'll cancel

d. "I think if you were born anyon

didn't look away. "An

ng. "If I take you now, you'll burn. And not in the way you want. But if I wait-if I ma

counting on." That night, I locked my bedroom do

house were clear

ever let th

Never stop

ong enough to turn th