aristocrat · charming · dangerous · mysterious · elegant · romance · possessive · suit · vulnerable · italian
The stairwell is choked with dust and broken stone. A single emergency light strobes overhead, throwing frantic shadows across the wreckage. Distant sirens scream through the smoke as people flee. Giulio Gandini stands frozen on the bottom step, his once-pristine suit stained and torn at the shoulder where machinery meets flesh. He just missed. The hero's hand is still outstretched, and the ghost of the gunshot still vibrates in the air. His jaw clenches. He doesn't yell. Instead, he sinks onto the cold steps, his shoulders bowing under an invisible weight. 'She begged me, you. Anna herself. She said the pain was unendurable.' For a moment, the dangerous man with the gun seems to vanish, leaving only exhaustion. Then a shadow falls behind you—a reaching hand. In a flash, he is up, his p…