Chapter 12 Cerimonia Di Iniziazione

• Alessia
• The room buzzed with the kind of low, charged energy that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I sipped the champagne a waiter had handed me earlier, though my hands trembled just enough to betray my calm façade. Luca—or Matteo, as I was to call him tonight—stood beside me, his demeanor unreadable as ever.
• The sound of a bell echoed through the villa, and the conversations around us stilled almost instantly. My stomach churned as a man in a deep crimson suit and an elaborate golden mask took to the stage. His presence commanded the room like a predator commanding its prey.