- 51 -

[ AURORA ]

Chicago rains were always unforgiving.

My hands tightened around the wheel, my fingers cold despite the heat blasting through the vents. I told myself it was just a moment of weakness. A slip. A mistake. But the ghost of his touch still lingered on my skin, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t erase the way he had looked at me—like he still owned me. Like nothing had changed.

Fuck, I was wrong.

The city stretched around me, neon lights bleeding into the slick pavement, but I barely saw any of it. My mind was still trapped in that room, in his bed, tangled in the sheets I never should have touched again. I should have left the past where it belonged. I should have never lost my cool around Marco but my anger was a dangerous thing.

I pulled up the car through the gates of the Romano mansion and given the time of the night, I knew everyone was fast asleep, save aside for a few guards on duty.

My tired legs dragged through the polished Italian marble, every muscle in my