Chapter 51

Isabella

My heart slammed rapidly in my chest, and even if I was given the whole night to calm the vital organ down, I doubted it was going to change anything—not with the man standing in front of me. Alessandro was dangerously close, closer than I’d liked or expected, but that wasn’t even the worst part.

A tiny part of me wanted him. I wanted to be so close to him that I could practically taste his cologne, close enough for me to hear his erratic pulse. Alessandro had shown a different side of him tonight, one I had no idea even existed—from the moment in my room, down to the little scene in the car, the even bigger one in the hall, and the last one that left my entire body in tingles.

Alessandro’s hands moved up my side, pulling me out of my thoughts. I gasped at how his touch burned, and I was transported to a couple of moments back. He’d pressed me against the wall, tapped me against the wall like so