**Stefano’s POV**

The morning light stabbed at my eyes.

I didn't want to wake up. I wanted to stay in the darkness, where I didn't have to remember. But the sun didn't care about my heart. It crept through the curtains and blazed across the bed, lighting the empty space beside me.

I opened my eyes slowly. My head felt as if it had been smashed with a lead pipe, and my body was stiff from sleeping in my clothes.

Then the scent hit me.

Vanilla. Citrus. The smell of her skin.

I bolted upright, ...