𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬🖤™

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖

❝(𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐯)❞

The night sky hung like a velvet curtain over the Romano estate, the stars barely visible through the thick clouds. Kylie Romano stood on the balcony, her hands gripping the cold, wrought-iron railing as she gazed out at the dark, churning sea below. The air was heavy with the scent of salt and impending rain, a storm brewing both in the sky and in her heart.

Kylie's thoughts were a tangled mess, a storm of their own. It had been years since her mother's death, but the pain was still raw, a wound that refused to heal. She had only been four when it happened, too young to fully understand but old enough to feel the loss. Her father had tried to protect her, to shield her from the darkness that came with their world, but Kylie knew there was no escaping it. Not when she was a Romano.

Her gaze drifted back to the grand mansion behind her, its stone walls cold and unwelcoming. It had never felt like home, not since her mother was gone. Her brothers had done their best, each in their own way, to fill the void, but it was never enough. Kylie was the youngest, the only girl, and they had always treated her like something fragile, something to be protected at all costs.

But she wasn't fragile. Not anymore.

Kylie's fingers tightened around the railing as she thought about the decision that had been made for her, the future that loomed like a dark cloud on the horizon. Her father wanted her to marry Aldo Alberto Russo, a man she had never met but knew by reputation. He was ruthless, like his father before him, a man who inspired fear in everyone who crossed his path.

She had overheard the conversation between her father and her eldest brother, Dante, just days before. They had spoken in hushed tones, but Kylie had caught enough to understand. The marriage was a strategic move, a way to strengthen alliances between two of the most powerful families in Italy.

But what about her? What about her dreams, her desires? Did they even matter in a world where power and loyalty were the only currencies that counted?

Kylie took a deep breath, the cold air burning her lungs. She couldn't do it. She couldn't marry a man she didn't know, didn't love. She had to get out, to escape before it was too late. But where could she go? Her father's influence reached far and wide, and there was no place in Italy where she would be safe.

A single tear slipped down her cheek, and Kylie angrily wiped it away. She couldn't afford to be weak, not now. She had to be strong, to fight for her freedom, for the life she wanted to live. But as she stood there, the weight of her decision pressing down on her, she couldn't help but feel a crushing sense of hopelessness.

Kylie closed her eyes, her thoughts turning to her mother. She wished she could talk to her, to ask her what to do. Her mother had always been her guiding light, even in death. But now, standing on the precipice of an uncertain future, Kylie felt lost, adrift in a sea of uncertainty.

"I'm sorry, Mama," she whispered into the night, her voice barely audible above the crashing waves. "I don't know what to do."

The wind picked up, whipping her hair around her face as if in response to her plea. Kylie opened her eyes and looked out at the sea, the dark waters reflecting the turmoil in her soul. She had to make a choice, and she had to make it soon. But whatever she decided, one thing was certain—her life would never be the same again.

-----

😁