He put a jacket around my shoulders and asked me to stay for one hour. Then someone sent a photo of my coffee, my lipstick, my ring'''and three words: We need to talk.
Federico De Santis. Storm���gray eyes. Scar like a punctuation at his brow. Velvet and gravel when he speaks. He catalogues me the way I catalogue clauses—fast, precise, without mercy. He steadies glasses, steadies my spine, then claims the parts of me I didn't know I would give away. He's infuriating. He's infuriated. He's the only man who makes me forget my training.
We barter in the dark. A jacket, an opera ticket, an espresso with his thumbprint on the rim. A power outage, a flashlight, his hand at the small of my back. One hour becomes a morning. He slides a ring into my palm. I plant an olive tree on his terrace. Then pictures show up. A photograph of our terrace. A close‑up of the ring. An old name I'd buried appears like an accusation.
If I let him love me, my enemies will use it. If I refuse him, I lose the man who chose me in the dark. He promises he will choose me—everywhere. Can I risk everything for a man who keeps secrets and makes me feel like home?
Federico De Santis. Storm���gray eyes. Scar like a punctuation at his brow. Velvet and gravel when he speaks. He catalogues me the way I catalogue clauses—fast, precise, without mercy. He steadies glasses, steadies my spine, then claims the parts of me I didn't know I would give away. He's infuriating. He's infuriated. He's the only man who makes me forget my training.
We barter in the dark. A jacket, an opera ticket, an espresso with his thumbprint on the rim. A power outage, a flashlight, his hand at the small of my back. One hour becomes a morning. He slides a ring into my palm. I plant an olive tree on his terrace. Then pictures show up. A photograph of our terrace. A close‑up of the ring. An old name I'd buried appears like an accusation.
If I let him love me, my enemies will use it. If I refuse him, I lose the man who chose me in the dark. He promises he will choose me—everywhere. Can I risk everything for a man who keeps secrets and makes me feel like home?