Chapter 1

The old woman's car door wouldn't budge. I wedged my shoulder against it, feeling the cheap suit jacket strain across my back as she fumbled with the handle from inside. The Milan heat had turned the parking lot into a furnace, and sweat beaded along my collar.

"Grazie, ragazzo," she said, finally free. Her eyes crinkled. "You're a good boy. Giulia's brother?"

"Yes, signora."

She patted my cheek, leaving a phantom warmth, then shuffled toward the reception hall. I was still smiling when I walked inside and saw her.

She stood by the window, champagne glass catching the late afternoon light. Dark hair swept over one shoulder. A silver dress that moved like water. She wasn't looking at anyone, and that was what undid me—she seemed utterly, impossibly alone in a room full of people.

"Who is she?" I asked my sister when Giulia swept past with a tray of canapés.

Giulia followed my gaze. Something flickered in her eyes. Caution, maybe. "No one you need to worry about, Leo."

"Giulia—"

"Focus on your dancing, little brother." She was already gone.

I didn't dance. I watched. And then, somehow, we were on the floor anyway—she'd set down her glass, extended her hand, and I'd taken it without thinking. Her palm was cool. She smelled like jasmine and something sharper, like rain on hot pavement.

"You dance well," she said. Not a compliment. An observation.

"You're easy to follow."

A ghost of a smile. "Careful. That's the kind of line that gets you into trouble."

"Then let me get into trouble."

The song ended. She stepped back, and I caught her wrist—gentle, not demanding. "Can I at least have your name?"

She looked at my hand on her skin, then back at me. For a moment, the mask slipped. I saw exhaustion there. And something else. Curiosity, maybe.

"You'll figure it out," she said. And then she was gone, swallowed by the crowd, leaving me with nothing but the scent of jasmine and a heart stupid enough to believe this was the start of something.

Giulia found me an hour later, staring at the door. "She's a friend," she said quietly. "That's all I can tell you."

"Then I'll find out myself."

"Leo." Her voice was sharp. "Some people aren't meant to be chased."

But she was wrong. I could feel it in my bones—this woman was meant to be found.