Romano's POV

My heart sank at the thought of Luciana choosing Donovan over me. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt before—intense and overwhelming, too much for me to shake off as if it were nothing.

When I returned to John downstairs, his questions buzzed around me like angry bees, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer. The words were trapped in my throat, and I felt lost in a fog of confusion and despair. I didn’t understand why her rejection weighed so heavily on my chest, ...