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Chapter 29 — “Lake Como”

Author: Mary George
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-22 17:20:10
The jet landed in Milan a little past noon. Damian barely spoke the whole flight, just the occasional glance, one refill I didn’t ask for, and once, his fingers brushed mine. Too long to be nothing.

Outside, the light felt… different. Brighter, somehow aged. Like the air remembered more than it let on.

A black car waited by the steps. The driver didn’t greet us, just opened the back door, quiet, expression blank. Damian got in first. Shoulders tight. I followed.

He didn’t sit close. But he didn’t keep his distance either.

Milan looked like it had been painted and left to dry centuries ago.

The roads twisted through groves of olive trees and villas falling apart at the edges, like they belonged to the land now, too old to move. The sun hit everything like it didn’t care who saw it. Silent. Still.

Then we saw the house.

And something in the air… dropped.

The villa sat like it had grown from the stone, ivy choking the sides. The walls were pale, but time had darkened the corners. The lake
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