Chapter 119

• Allesio’s POV
• I’d finally decided to stop running away from Rosa and spend more time with her instead. Staying away from her wouldn’t change what I felt about her. It wouldn’t make Alaric think otherwise. So why torture myself with trying to make it look like I didn’t feel shit for her? Because that was exactly what it was. Torture and nothing else. We were seated on the balcony of her room, a bottle of wine between us and the city lights sprawling out below. It was a rare moment of calm, one I hadn’t planned for but wasn’t about to waste.
• She leaned back in her chair, a distant look in her eyes. Her hair was loose, spilling over her shoulders, and there was a tension in her posture that hadn’t been there earlier. Something was weighing on her, but I knew better than to push too soon. Rosa was like a safe with a complicated lock—push too hard, and she’d shut tighter.