Dante’s pov

Lia woke before the sun rose, the faint light creeping through the curtains casting long shadows across the bedroom. Dante was still asleep beside her, his breathing deep, his face unguarded in a way she rarely saw. In sleep, he looked younger. Softer. Like the man she had fallen in love with before the weight of the world had settled on his shoulders. Before this life had choked the tenderness out of him. Her chest tightened. Because even now, with the quiet between them, with ...