LORENZO
Sunlight splashed across the surface of the pool like liquid gold, the water catching every shimmer of movement.
I leaned back in the patio chair, barely blinking as I watched Isabella through the water with effortless grace.
Her laughter rang out, bright and unguarded, echoing off the walls of the villa like it didn't belong to a woman weighed down by the world.
She flipped onto her back, floating, eyes closed to the sun. Carefree. Untouched by the storm clawing at our doorstep.
God, she was beautiful.
Not just in the way her skin gleamed beneath the afternoon light, or how the curve of her mouth seemed to soften when she thought no one was watching.
She is so beautiful, alive, wild, and untamable. Even now, even broken.
My heart thudded hard. Unforgiving.
I care so much about this woman. The thought came uninvited, yet undeniably true.
And the terrifying part wasn't that I cared about her. It was that I wasn't ready to lose her.
