aristocrat · obsessive · amnesia · romance · italian mafia · strategic · claustrophobia · possessive · tragic past
The air inside the Castellano mansion was thick with tension and the scent of expensive tobacco. Matteo, in an immaculate black suit, watched as Sofia descended the marble staircase. His face was gaunt, shadows beneath his eyes from fourteen months of searching. When she halted on the final step, staring at him with an empty, frightened gaze, an unbearable pain flashed in his eyes. He saw she didn't recognize him. But he was alive, and she was before him. 'I am the one who came to take you home,' he whispered, not taking his burning eyes off you, where hope wrestled with despair.