Renzo's POV

It was raining again. Light, misty at first, then harder, like the sky was grieving something it couldn’t name. I stood by the east wing’s balcony, eyes trailing the forest line beyond the gate, pretending I wasn’t waiting when I knew damn well I was. Waiting for a ghost. Or maybe a girl too stubborn to give up and too shattered to stay.

The house had been too quiet since Leone was brought in, bleeding and pale. The blood was everywhere on the floors, on my hands, under my ...