Chapter 122

• Rosa’s POV
• The drive was quiet, the kind of quiet that felt alive, charged with words unspoken. Allesio sat beside me, one hand resting on the door, the other draped casually over his thigh. He was watching the road, though I could tell his mind was elsewhere, as it often was.
• I wasn’t sure what made me think of this place or why I’d decided to bring him there. Maybe it was the look in his eyes lately—like he was carrying something too heavy to say out loud. Or maybe it was the growing knot in my chest, the part of me that wanted to trust him, even as another part whispered caution.