LOGIN~LUCAS~I don’t know when I stopped seeing her as a problem to solve.Or maybe I still see her as a problem to solve.Maybe it started last night… when she stood in front of me, stripped of that sharp, untouchable arrogance she wears like armor, and said she was sorry.Fiorella Vincenzo doesn’t apologize.She fights. She provokes. She wins.But last night… she didn’t.And now, sitting here on this plane with her head resting on my shoulder like it belongs there, I realize something I’m not entirely comfortable with.I let this happen.No… not just let it.I made it easier for her.My jaw tightens slightly as I stare straight ahead, unmoving, hyper-aware of the soft weight of her against me.When her head first tilted, I felt it.That subtle shift. That moment of hesitation where she could have pulled back.She didn’t. And neither did I.Instead, I adjusted. I actually shifted my shoulder just enough to support her better.Why the hell did I do that?My eyes fli
~FIORELLA~The airport is too loud as voices overlap, wheels drag across the polished floor, announcements echo overhead in three different languages, and yet somehow… none of it reaches me.Because I’m aware of only one thing, and that's him.Lucas walks beside me like nothing has changed.Like last night didn’t happen. Like I didn’t stand in front of him and unravel in ways I still don’t understand.“Good morning, Fiorella,” he had said earlier.“Good morning, Lucas,” I replied.“How was your night?” he asks.“It was fine,” I reply. “And yours??”“It was fine.”And that was it….that was all.Now we’re here….walking side by side, boarding passes in hand, heading toward the same destination.We're going to Albania….a new country, a new case, and a fresh start.At least… that’s what I told myself.But right now? It doesn’t feel like a fresh start.It feels like something unresolved… stretched thin between us.We board the plane in silence and we walk to our seats
~FIORELLA~I slam the door behind me, just enough to shut the world out.And then I lean back against it, my fingers still curled around the handle like if I let go, everything that just happened will come rushing back at me all at once.My chest rises, falls, and rises again.What the hell just happened?I close my eyes, pressing my head back against the door.No, no, no.That didn’t happen.There is absolutely no way that just happened.“I apologized,” I whisper under my breath, like saying it quietly will somehow make it less real.But it doesn’t. If anything, it sounds worse.My eyes snap open, and I push myself off the door immediately, pacing straight into the middle of the room like I need space… air… something.“I apologized,” I repeat, louder this time, staring at absolutely nothing.To Lucas Santis.I drag both hands through my hair, turning sharply and pacing again, the same restless energy from earlier crashing right back into me….but worse this time.
~LUCAS~For a second… I’m convinced I misheard her.I actually tilt my head a little, eyes narrowing like if I look at her properly, the words will rearrange themselves into something that makes sense.But they don’t.“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry for everything.”Fiorella Vincenzo just apologized….to me.Silence stretches between us, thick and almost unreal, and I swear my brain refuses to process it properly. Of all the things I expected when she barged into my room….This?This wasn’t even on the list….not even close.I stare at her, waiting for the twist. Waiting for the sarcasm. The smirk. The punchline.It doesn’t come.Instead, she just stands there… stiff, frozen, like she regrets the words the second they left her mouth.Her fingers twitch slightly at her sides, like she doesn’t know what to do with them. Like she’s fighting the urge to take the apology back.And then, a sound slips out of me.A chuckle ... .It's quiet at first, almost accidental, li
~FIORELLA~I can’t sit still, and I try hard.God knows I try.But it lasts barely ten seconds before I’m up again, pacing from one end of the room to the other like something is clawing at my insides.I hear the sound of my footsteps, but it doesn’t quiet the noise in my head.Nothing does.Not the shower I took. Not the food I forced myself to eat even though I could barely taste it. Not the silence.Especially not the silence.I stop in the middle of the room and press my lips together, exhaling slowly.This is ridiculous.I shouldn’t feel like this. I don’t feel like this.Not over anyone. Not over him. And yet….My jaw tightens as I drag a hand through my hair, turning sharply and resuming my pacing again…. back and forth, then back and forth again.Like I’m trying to outrun something that refuses to stay behind me.His voice….that’s what it is.The way it cracked just slightly when he asked me if I had any idea how humiliating that was.The way he looked
~FIORELLA~I have seen Lucas irritated.I have seen him sharp-tongued, cold, dismissive, even borderline cruel when he wants to be.But I have never…never….seen him like that.Not like the man who just walked away from me.Not like the one whose voice shook despite how hard he tried to control it. Not like the one whose eyes burned with something so raw, so unfiltered, it didn’t even look like anger anymore.It looked… personal.And that realization sits heavy in my chest as I remain where he left me, my back still against the wall, the faint warmth of where his hand had been braced beside my head lingering longer than it should.I exhale slowly, and for a moment, I don’t move.Because I’m trying to understand what just happened.Trying to process the way he snapped, the way he looked at me like I had done something far worse than twist a presentation.My lips press together.I crossed the line.The thought comes quietly, but it settles deep.I did, and I know it
~MARCELLA~I take one slow step closer to him, letting the bass roll through my body.I stop just close enough for him to smell my perfume—warm, sweet, dangerous.Up close, he’s even better. Sharp jaw. Long lashes. Lips that look like they’ve never learned how to beg. Calm
~TWENTY TWO YEARS LATER~ ~MARCELLA~I weave my way onto the dance floor with Stephanie, my best friend, finding the beat as I sway my hips and lose myself in the groove, erupting loud cheering noises from the hungry crowd whose hungry eyes are ravaging all over my body.I'm
~MARCELLA~I take Lucas to my favorite spot.A slightly secluded corner, tucked away just enough to give privacy… but still with a perfect view of the entire restaurant.It's romantic, quiet and perfect.We sit down, and almost immediately, a waiter approaches us.I smile politel
~LUCAS~The box is the first thing I notice when I wake up.It's there…. right where I left it before going to bed last night.Like it knows I haven’t made peace with myself yet.It's pushed neatly against the wall like it hasn’t been silently haunting me all night. Like







