Page 40 (1/2)

PROLOGUE

February, Tuscany, Italy

THIS WAS A living nightmare

Bianca creaked open the door to her parents’ bedroom She peered inside, just like she used to do when she was a little girl She paused as though waiting to be bid entrance That would never happen

Bianca tentatively stepped into the roos The bed wasThere was still an indentation on her father’s pillow as though his head had just been there—as though he would return to it that evening

But that wasn’t to be the case

Her parents had died The acknowledgment made her heart clench One minute they’d been vibrant and active In the next moment, they’d died in a horrific vehicle accident

They hadn’t been going anywhere special It hadn’t been a special day It had been a perfectly ordinary day on a perfectly ordinary ride to the city to do so And yet it had ended with extraordinarily horrific results

The backs of Bianca’s eyes burned with unshed tears She blinked repeatedly and sniffled She had to pull herself together Falling apart noouldn’t help anyone

The funeral had just concluded and the as to be read shortly Everything was being pushed into fast forward as the vineyard had to be tiear Without soe, the Barto Vineyard would suffer—her father’s legacy would languish His precious prize-winning grapes would wither on the vine

The faht with the vineyard at stake, it was reason enough to push her and her two siblings to read the will today of all days—while she was still wearing her black dress from the funeral, while the estate was still filled with mourners that had come to pay their respects

All Bianca wanted to do that day was remember her parents—to bask in the love that lived within the walls of this vast villa She pushed the door closed before stepping further into the bedroom It was here, within her parents’ suite of rooms, she felt closest to them

It was here that her mother showed her how to put on makeup for the first tio away to university in the UK Bianca walked around the spacious rooers over her e mirror suspended above it

She picked up herdark strands of hair tangled around the bristles The last of her ht of never seeing her parents ever again It still seemed so utterly inconceivable

She kept walking around the roos, that until just days ago, her parents had touched—had used The thought tugged on her heart strings How could they be here one one the next?

Bianca pressed a shaky hand to herback a wave of emotion that threatened to drown her in unbearable sorrow She struggled to make sense of it Why had they been stolen ahen they were still so vital—still so needed? When she still didn’t have their approval—their blessing for the choice she’d made about her path in life

Knock Knock

“Bianca, are you in there?” It was her brother’s voice

“Yes” She’d been found too soon

The door creaked open and Enzo’s somber facein their parents’ roo that would make her feel close to them once more

“Everyone is waiting for us downstairs in father’s study”

The moment was at hand Her parents’ final wishes would be known And then the estate would be divvied up between her, her older brother and her younger sister It would be so—so final Her parents’ absence from their lives would be undeniable

“I I’ll be there” She turned her back to hi in her eyes She could be strong like hi into a million pieces