**Stefano’s POV**

I turned and stared at her, really stared at her, for the first time since she had walked through those doors.

She was a wreck. Her eyes were bloodshot and drowning, tear tracks carving through her makeup like salt on a wound. She looked like she had been holding those tears back for a lifetime, and now that the dam had broken, there was no stopping the flood. Her hands shook at her sides, her knuckles white as she gripped the fabric of her navy blue gown.

I was looking at ...