REINA

The door to our apartment felt heavier than usual as I pushed it open. The silence that greeted me was deafening. No lights on. No scent of Paolo’s cologne lingering in the air. Just emptiness. I stood there in the doorway for a long moment, still wearing Domenico’s oversized shirt beneath his coat like some shameful secret branded into my skin. My body ached in ways that reminded me of every touch, every thrust, every whispered promise from the night before. And Paolo wasn’t here.

He still wasn’t back.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips, but it quickly dissolved into something closer to a sob. Today was the day...