Chapter 42

• The candlelight flickered against the high stone walls of the villa’s master bedroom. Outside, the distant crash of waves against the rocky Amalfi Coast served as a haunting lullaby, but neither Kieran nor Isandro found any rest. The storm outside was nothing compared to the one brewing between them.
• Kieran stood near the balcony, the cool sea breeze brushing against his bare chest. The fresh scars from the night’s ambush still burned across his skin, reminders of how close death had come again. He was haunted, his breath shallow as he tried to focus on the horizon instead of the man behind him.
• Isandro watched him in silence. The soft glow of the bedside lamps bathed the sharp lines of Kieran’s body in golden warmth, but there was distance in every angle of him shoulders tense, jaw locked, hands clenched at his sides.