DOMENICO

She felt like a prize I had finally claimed after months of careful patience.

Reina’s body rested warm and trembling in my arms as I carried her across the garden and into my private building. Her arms were looped loosely around my neck, but I could still sense the faint resistance lingering in her muscles — that last fragile thread of guilt and uncertainty. I had spent the entire evening methodically dismantling her defenses, feeding her doubts about Paolo until she had whispered those fateful words: “Just one night.”

One night was all I needed.

The urge to take her straight to my bedroom burned hot in my veins....