As soon as I returned to my chamber, my heart kept pounding, a wild beat that refused to calm. I paced the room, rubbing my chest, trying to steady myself, but my mind was a whirlwind. Stefano and Ornella lingered in my thoughts, and Emiliano's words circled back in an endless loop. What if Stefano was wrong about Ornella? What if allying with her could be even more dangerous than siding with her brother?

A knock at the door jolted me from my daze. I sucked in a breath. "Stefano," I ...