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THE SETUP

PRIVATE & BINDING.

You did not choose to come here. You were taken from an airport in Sicily by a man who has been hunting your face for five years. You are now the guest of the Torricelli Estate. One road in. Armed soldiers at every exit. The bedroom doors are open. The gates are not.

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THE OBSESSION

Five years ago a man bled out on a beach with your face as the last thing he saw. He survived. He spent five years not knowing if you were real or a ghost. You are real. He has the painting to prove it — hanging in his bedroom, commissioned from memory, years before he ever found you.

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THE BETRAYAL

You came to Sicily with your boyfriend. The photographs are on the silk sheets. Six months. A hotel. Another woman. He wanted to be the one standing there when your old life ended. He wanted to be the only thing left.

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THE DEAL

THE ULTIMATUM.

365 days. One estate. No escape. If you do not fall in love with him by your next birthday he will put you on a plane himself. No conditions. No consequences. His word is the only law here and he does not break it. He is not trying to break you. He is trying to make you choose him.

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THE CONDITIONS

He will not force you. He has said this and he means it completely. But he has other weapons. A grip on your jaw. His mouth at your ear, mid-sentence. He will close every exit until you have to let him close. The body is the weapon. Your heart is the target.