(stood with his back to her)

(Still)

(turned slowly and crossed the room)

(Crouched in front of her until he was at her level)

(low)Guardami [Look at me]

(didn't move)

(quieter) Guardami, per favore [Look at me, please]

(eyes lifted)

(barely above a whisper)

I have everything under control. Nobody will touch you

Not while I'm breathing

(didn't say anything.)

(leaned forward slowly and pressed her forehead against his shoulder)

(closed his eyes and wraps his both hands around her )

(held her tightly)

(older, cold) Tutto in questa stanza un giorno sarà suo Ricordatelo [Everything in this room will one day be his. Remember that.]

(softly) Hey , you okay little star

(looked down at the cup in her hands)

(Held it with both palms like it was the only warm thing left in the world)

(very small) Are we going to be okay

(quietly) Always

(phone buzzed)

she hasn't seen him yet has she 👀

Oh she is going to lose her mind

Someone warn her atleast

(laughing) where is the fun in that 😈

(without looking up) You're staring again

(completely unbothered) So

It's strange

(quietly)bSei mia, Stella [You are mine, Star]

I'll stare as long as I want

(rolled her eyes)

Name — Caelum Valentino Marchetti Age — 28 Role —Heir to the Marchetti empire.Cold. Calculated. Commanding.The kind of man who walks into a room and doesn't need to say a single word for every person in it to feel his presence. He has never needed anyone. Never wanted anything beyond power and empire. Until her. To the world he is untouchable. To her he is everything he never knew he could be. "The most dangerous men are not the ones who shout. They are the ones who go completely quiet."

Name — Leandro Voss Age — 29 Role — Caelum's right hand. His most trusted. Deadly. Loyal. Dry humored in the most unexpected ways. He has stood beside Caelum through everything and knows every version of him that the world never gets to see. He would burn cities for his boss without blinking. But even he is not prepared for what Vesper Calloway does to Caelum Marchetti. "Behind every dangerous man is someone even more dangerous making sure nobody finds out."

Name — Bastiano Ferri Age — 27 Role — Caelum's childhood friend. Comic relief. Surprisingly deadly. Loud. Carefree. Always laughing. The complete opposite of Caelum in every way and somehow his oldest friend. He makes the most dangerous man in Milan laugh without even trying. He ships the romance before there even is one and has absolutely zero shame about it. "Life is too short to be serious. Unless someone touches what's mine. Then it gets very serious very fast."

Name — Calixta Ricci Age — 27 Role — Female associate. Elegant. Dangerous. Complicated. She is sharp, calculated and breathtakingly beautiful. She has worked beside Caelum for years. She told herself it was only professional. She almost believed it. Watching him look at Vesper the way he has never looked at anything will be the thing that quietly breaks her. She is not the villain. She is just a girl who loved someone who was never going to love her back. "Some people are not meant to be loved. They are only meant to be needed."

Name — Severino Marchetti Age — 57 Role — The Don. Caelum's father. The most feared man in Milan. Ruthless. Powerful. A man of very few words and absolutely no mercy. He built the Marchetti empire with his bare hands and blood and he has never once apologized for it. He raised his son to be a weapon. He never considered that his son might one day choose to be something else. "Power is not taken. It is inherited by those worthy enough to keep it."

Name — Isolde Marchetti Age — 54 Role — Caelum's mother. The quiet power behind the empire. Elegant. Warm. Devastatingly perceptive. She is the one soul in the entire Marchetti world who has always seen her son clearly. She has quietly prayed for someone to reach the parts of him that the empire buried. When Vesper arrives she recognizes it immediately. She says nothing. She just smiles. "The strongest thing in any empire is not its walls. It is the woman holding it together from the inside."

Name — Zephyr Marchetti Age — 31 Role — Caelum's older brother. Loyal to the empire. Complicated. Intense. Proud. Deeply loyal to the Marchetti name. He sees his brother's mission becoming personal and it unsettles him in ways he cannot articulate. He has his own secrets. His own story. His own war happening quietly underneath everything. "Blood is the only thing in this world that cannot be faked."

Name — Serafina Marchetti Age — 22 Role — Caelum's younger sister. The bridge. The chaos. The heart. Bright. Warm. Rebellious in the softest way. She is the one pure relationship in Caelum's entire world. He is patient only with her. Soft only with her. She will befriend Vesper before anyone else does and become the first real crack in Caelum's walls. She also teases him about his feelings relentlessly and has absolutely no regrets about it. "My brother is very scary to everyone. Except me. And now her. And honestly I saw this coming."

Name — Vesper Elaine Calloway Age — 26 Role — Co owner of Calloway & Associates. Sharp. Independent. Quietly resilient. She built her career with her own hands and has never once waited for anyone to save her. She is warm but boundaried. Trusting but careful. Strong in the way that only people who have survived quiet pain can be. She does not know that the new business partner walking into her boardroom is about to become the most important person she has ever met. She does not know that someone has already decided she is his. "She was never the girl who needed saving. She was always the girl worth everything."

Name — Solène Calloway Age — 26 Role — Vesper's cousin. Best friend. Ride or die. Loud. Funny. Brutally honest. She and Vesper finish each other's sentences and have absolutely no boundaries with each other. She is the first person Vesper tells everything to and the last person who will ever let her settle for less than she deserves. She will also be the first one to notice something is very different about Caelum Marchetti. And she will not shut up about it. "Best friends don't let best friends fall for cold dangerous men alone. We fall together and panic together."

Name — Indira Ashwood Age — 26 Role — Vesper's best friend. The protector. Fierce. Perceptive. Overprotective in the best way. Her gut feeling has never once been wrong and from the moment she hears about Caelum Marchetti something in her goes very still. She will be the last one to trust him. And when she finally does it will mean everything. "I don't need a reason not to trust someone. The absence of a reason to trust them is enough."

Name — Oleander Fenn Age — 27 Role — Vesper's work best friend. The chaos. The wisdom. The fashion. Dramatic. Hilarious. Surprisingly the wisest person in every room. He notices the tension between Vesper and Caelum before Vesper even admits there is tension. He gives the best advice always wrapped inside the most dramatic delivery imaginable. His commentary throughout this story will be iconic. "Honey I noticed the way he looks at you three weeks ago. We are just waiting for you to catch up."

Name — Dorian Calloway Age — 52 Role — Vesper's uncle. The man who raised her. The secret. Warm. Steady. Safe. He has been Vesper's anchor since she was eleven years old. She trusts him completely. Loves him completely. Which is exactly why what is coming will hurt so much. Because Dorian Calloway has a past. A buried, dangerous, carefully hidden past. And it leads directly to the Marchetti family. "Some secrets are kept out of fear. Some are kept out of love. The most dangerous ones are kept out of both."

📲 good morning my beautiful cousin who I love very much

📲who I would never ever disturb this early unless it was important

📲What did you do...?

📲NOTHING

📲why do you always assume I did something

📲Because it's 7am and you are awake

📲you are never awake at 7am voluntarily

📲okay that is fair

📲but also I may have accidentally forwarded the Henderson file to the wrong client

📲Which client

📲...Andreotti

📲Solène

📲 I KNOW

📲 I KNOW VEE

📲 that is why I am texting you at 7am also good morning I love you very much

📲 Do not touch anything

📲 Do not open anything

📲 Do not forward anything

📲 Sit in your office and do not breathe until I get there

📲 yes boss 🫡

📲 I also bought pastries the ones from Bertolucci's with the cream

📲 please remember that when you're deciding whether to fire me

📲 I'm not going to fire you

📲 (relieved) oh thank God

📲 I'm going to do something much worse

📲 I'm going to make you personally call Andreotti and explain

📲 ...can you fire me instead

(set her phone down)

(Said nothing)

Henderson file is handled ❄️

Andreotti's assistant confirmed nothing reached anyone senior❄️

Solène is in her office eating pastries and feeling guilty❄️

Your nine o'clock called to reschedule I moved them to Thursday❄️

And your coffee is on your desk the good one from downstairs not the office machine ❄️

(looks at him )

When did you get here❄️

Seven❄️

Solène texted me at six fifty eight in full panic ❄️

I figured you would need everything handled before you arrived ❄️

(after a pause) Thank you Olie ❄️

(already looking back at his screen)

That's what I'm here for you 😚

Also the new business partner arrives at nine forty five ❄️

Just so you know ❄️

I know❄️

Send Solène in when she's done feeling sorry for herself ❄️

(calling down the hall without looking up)

SOLÈNE ❄️

She wants you ❄️

(Appeared in the doorway thirty seconds later, pastry box in hand, expression somewhere between apologetic and hopeful)

(set the box on Vesper's desk without a word)

(looked at it and then at her)

(quietly) I'm really sorry Vee

I know you are

It won't happen again

I mean it this time

You said that after the Bianchi file

(wincing) this is different

I actually scared myself this time

(leaning back in her chair)

What happened

I was answering three emails at the same time

Autocomplete filled in Andreotti instead of Anderson

It got sent before I could stop it

And then I just stared at my screen for a full minute not breathing

And then you called Olie

And then I called Olie

( small voice) are you angry

(looked at her cousin for a long moment)

(quietly) No

But Solène you have to be more careful

This firm is everything we built

Both of us

(nodding) I know

I know that

Okay

(pushing the pastry box back toward her) Take these back to your office

I don't want sugar before a ten o'clock meeting

(standing, relieved) do you want me in the boardroom for the nine forty five

Yes

Be there at nine thirty

(already at the door) done

Also Olie said the new partner is...

Solène❄️❄️

Right

Going

I'm going 🫡

(turned back to her window)

( appeared in her doorway)

He's here ❄️

(not looking up) Who❄️

(giving her a look)

The business partner Vee ❄️

Marchetti ❄️

He's at reception ❄️

And I just want to say for the record...❄️

Olie ❄️(said in warning tone)

I'm just going to say it once and never again and he does not look like a business partner ,he looks like a problem 😭😭😭😭

A very expensive very well dressed problem 🥀

(standing, straightening her jacket)

Send him up

And tell Solène to meet us in the boardroom

(already on the phone) on it

Also for what it's worth

You look very intimidating today

Which I think is going to be necessary

(flatly) Thank you Olie

(into the phone) yes could you send Mr. Marchetti up please twenty third floor ❄️

Thank you ❄️

(hung up and looked at her)

(quietly) you good?

(picking up her file) I'm always good

(walked out)

(watched her go)

(under his breath) sure you are

(caught Vesper's eye and mouthed)

is he here yet??

(gave her one look)

(immediately looked back down at her notepad)

(to the room) We'll begin in two minutes ❄️

We're waiting on...❄️

(held his gaze without blinking)

( completely composed) Mr. Marchetti❄️❄️

Please sit down❄️❄️

We are already behind schedule❄️❄️

( pulled out the chair across from her and sat)

(went very still)

(jaw tightened slightly)

(eyes moved from the photograph to Vesper)

(looked at the photograph one more time)

(And looked away)

(was closing her files when and realized someone hadn't moved)

(looked up)

(was still seated)

(Eyes on her like he had been watching her for longer than this moment)

(evenly) Was there something else Mr. Marchetti❄️❄️

(quiet) Page nine❄️❄️

Ferrano account ❄️❄️

The margin projection is off by eight percent❄️❄️

Currency variance from the Rome acquisition❄️❄️

It wasn't accounted for❄️❄️

(holding his gaze) You could have raised that during the meeting❄️❄️

I could have ❄️❄️

(just looked at her)

(held his gaze for three seconds)

(looked at page nine)

I'll have it corrected by noon ❄️❄️

(picked up her files and moved toward the door)

(quietly, From behind her.) Miss Calloway ❄️❄️

(stopped)

(after one beat) Mr. Marchetti❄️❄️

You've built something impressive here❄️❄️

(turned just slightly)

(unreadable expression)

I know ❄️❄️

(walked out)

(Sat perfectly still and hand flat on the table)

(eyes on the presentation still frozen on the screen)

(reached into his jacket and took out his phone)

Ho trovato qualcosa❄️❄️ [I found something]

Il nome che cercavamo Era proprio davanti a noi Da tutto questo tempo❄️❄️ [The name we were looking for. It was right in front of us. This whole time]

(ended the call and put the phone away)

(looked one last time at Dorian Calloway's face on that screen)