Chapter 1

Salvatore was in love.

But not with me.

Lucia had arrived at the Romano estate a month ago.

At first, Salvatore paid her little attention.

All he said was, "She's your sister. Of course we should treat her well. You can handle it."

Then she wandered into Salvatore's study by mistake and found her way into his heart.

Salvatore began insisting on dining with us.

He watched her, and one by one, the dishes she didn't like vanished from the table.

"Take the slow-roasted herb lamb away too. Don't make it again."

Suddenly, the lamb on my plate became impossible to swallow.

This was one of the few dishes Salvatore actually enjoyed. He'd mentioned once that he liked it, and I'd been making it for three years.

Lucia had only wrinkled her brow, and he ordered the dish removed.

I set down my cutlery and answered quietly, "All right. I won't make it anymore."

Salvatore looked surprised for a moment, then caught himself and nodded. "You're the Donna. You were never expected to bother with these small things."

I gave a faint smile and had the servants clear my plate.

Salvatore frowned. "You're not eating?"

Before I could answer, Lucia chimed in brightly, "Since nobody's eating, why don't we all take a walk in the garden?"

My first instinct was to decline.

Salvatore had already agreed with a slight smile.

Lucia turned to me eagerly. "Come with us, Bianca."

I offered an apologetic smile. "I'm allergic to pollen. I'd better not."

Contact with pollen left me covered in hives and could even knock me unconscious.

"It's fine! Salvatore already had the flowers in the garden replaced."

Lucia took my hand and gave it a playful tug. "Come on, come on."

Salvatore added, "Don't turn down Lucia's kindness. Come along."

While I was still hesitating, Lucia had already pulled me all the way to the garden.

When I saw the lilies covering every inch of it, I froze, stepped back, and pressed my hand over my nose and mouth.

The question slipped out before I could stop it. "What happened to the roses?"

Lucia answered breezily, "Salvatore heard I like lilies, so he had them transplanted overnight."

Lucia plucked a bloom and held it in front of my face. "Here, smell it. Doesn't it smell wonderful?"

I stumbled back two steps, coughing violently.

Salvatore frowned in disapproval. "Bianca, don't be so dramatic. Lucia just wants you to smell it."

My lashes trembled. I could barely believe what I was hearing. "You know how severe my pollen allergy is."

Salvatore held my gaze. "I remember how you used to make flower-infused honey for people. You could handle flowers then. Why can't you smell one now?"

I was stunned for a moment. Salvatore pressed on, "Lucia is only asking you to take one sniff. Nothing serious is going to happen."

I studied Salvatore's face and asked again, "Why did you replace the roses? You said they were the symbol of the Romano Family."

What I couldn't bring myself to ask was why my allergy hadn't been enough to change the Romano Family's symbol, yet one word from Lucia was.

Salvatore didn't seem to notice what I was waiting for: any reason that had nothing to do with Lucia.

Instead he said, "Don't you think the color of the Stargazer lilies looks just like Lucia's golden hair falling past her neck?"

Lucia beamed at that.

She tucked the bloom behind her ear. "How does it look, Salvatore?"

A chill went through me. I coughed even harder.

Salvatore gave a slight frown. "If you're not feeling well, go back inside."

I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white, then turned and left.

Behind me, I heard Salvatore's low laugh. "Beautiful."

I couldn't help glancing back. I saw him take the lily from Lucia and tuck it gently into her hair.