Chapter 1 Ignited Spark

Chapter 1:

Bianca

The Mediterranean breeze was a gentle caress, carrying a layered perfume of salt, blooming jasmine, and the smoky, tantalizing aroma of grilled seafood from the festival stalls. Above the crowded beach of Positano, strings of lights swung like golden fireflies, casting shifting, luminous patterns on the sand where dozens of bodies moved as one to the pulsing rhythm of an Italian pop song. It was a scene straight out of a dream, the kind of vibrant, life-affirming night that should have made my spirit soar. It should have been magic.

Instead, I felt like a ghost at the feast. I sat at the very edge of the festivities, tucked away at a small, wobbly table, nursing a glass of Aperol spritz that had long since gone warm and flat in my hands. My mind was a thousand miles away, trapped in the cold, elegant confines of my father’s study, replaying our argument on an endless, torturous loop.

“You're twenty-six years old, Bianca. It's time to stop these philanthropic whims and think about the family's future.”

My father’s voice echoed in my head, delivered with that infuriating, practiced calm he always reserved for high-stakes business negotiations. Because that’s what this was to him. A transaction. Not my life, not my heart, not my right to choose who I share my bed and my future with. Just another corporate merger, another strategic alliance to fortify the Morena empire, stretching its influence from the diamond districts of Cape Town to the ancient trade routes of Sicily.

“The DeSanti family has agreed. Alessandro is a good match. Educated, successful, from excellent stock.”

Excellent stock. He said it with the same clinical detachment he used when appraising one of the thoroughbreds at the racing club he was so fond of back in Constantia. I was just another asset to be strategically placed.

A sharp buzz against the table jolted me back to the present. Olivia’s face, a beacon of familiar warmth, filled my phone screen before I could even muster the energy to decline the video call. My best friend’s dark, riotous curls bounced as she adjusted her phone, the blurred, colourful street art in the background telling me she was walking through Cape Town's trendy Woodstock district.

"Bee! Thank God you answered. I've been worried sick since your cryptic text. Are you okay? Stupid question—of course you're not okay. Your parents are trying to marry you off like we're living in a Jane Austen novel, except with more territorial disputes over shipping lanes and significantly less propriety."

Despite the lead weight in my chest, I felt a genuine, weary smile tug at my lips. Olivia had a gift for cutting through the drama with a dose of reality, laced with her unique brand of humor. "Hi, Liv," I said, my voice softer than I intended.

"Don't you 'Hi, Liv' me in that tragic, resigned voice. Where are you? Is that music I hear? Please tell me you're not sitting alone at that gorgeous Italian beach festival looking like someone just kicked your puppy."

"I'm not alone," I protested, gesturing vaguely at the swirling crowd. "There are at least two hundred potential witnesses here if I decide to spontaneously combust from sheer frustration."

"You know exactly what I mean." Olivia’s expression softened, the playful glint in her eyes replaced by deep concern. "Bee, I'm so, so sorry. I wish I was there with you right now. Have you talked to your parents since the ambush this afternoon?"

"What's left to say? Their minds are made up. The deal is done. I'm to be presented to this… this Alessandro DeSanti next month at the charity gala back home. They've already accepted the arrangement on my behalf. They didn't ask me, Liv. They informed me." I took a long, bitter sip of the warm, syrupy drink, grimacing. "I don't even know what he looks like. Father showed me a single, grainy photo from when he was, like, sixteen. He could have three heads and a tail for all I know. He’s probably been groomed in a boardroom somewhere."

"He's probably a troll," Olivia declared with unwavering conviction. "Rich men are always trolls—it's like a fundamental law of the universe. Their money compensates for their profound lack of basic attractiveness and personality." She leaned closer to her screen, her eyes narrowing into focused slits. "But listen to me, and listen good. Your mission tonight is to forget the entire DeSanti dynasty for a few hours. Look around you! Consider me your virtual wingman. Live a little. Rebellion looks good on you, I can feel it."

"Liv, I'm not—" I started, my instinct for caution kicking in.

"Ooh, who's that?" Olivia’s voice shot up an octave, brimming with sudden excitement. "Eleven o'clock. No, your eleven o'clock. The guy at the bar, the one in the simple white linen shirt. Holy mother of God, Bee, do not look now, but he is absolutely, undeniably staring at you. And I mean staring."

Of course, I looked immediately. I’m only human.

And my breath simply caught in my throat, lodging there like a stone.

The man at the bar was… devastating. It was the only word that fit. He was tall—I could tell even though he was perched on a barstool—with a head of dark, thick hair that looked artfully tousled by the same sea breeze that was playing with my own. His features were strong and perfectly defined, a classic Mediterranean heritage written in every line. He wore the white linen shirt Olivia had mentioned, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows revealing tanned, corded forearms resting casually on the bar.

And his eyes… they were fixed on me with an intensity that was both unnerving and thrilling, a laser-focused gaze that made my skin prickle with a sudden, acute awareness. The noisy festival seemed to fade into a dull hum around him.

"Earth to Bianca!" Olivia’s voice snapped me back to reality, sounding tinny and far away through the phone. "Oh my God, you looked. You totally looked! Did you see him? Tell me you saw him."

"I saw him," I managed to whisper, my mouth suddenly dry.

"And?!" she pressed, her voice vibrating with anticipation.

"And he's completely out of my league, Liv. That man is a different species. Probably married, definitely a professional heartbreaker, and I have more than enough complications in my life without adding a… a human hurricane to the mix."

"Without what? Without having one night of fun before your parents literally chain you to some stuffy, unknown heir? Bee, I love you, but you need to get out of your own head for five minutes. Go talk to him. Worst case scenario, he's boring and you come back to me and we order gelato and curse the patriarchy. Best case scenario..." Olivia waggled her eyebrows so suggestively I almost blushed.

"You're impossible."

"I'm your best friend, and I'm giving you a direct order—he's still looking. Actually, I think he's getting up. Oh shit, Bee, he's getting up! He's coming over. I'm hanging up. Don't you dare argue. Make good choices—or better yet, make fun, bad ones. I'm not picky. Text me every detail!"

The screen went black, plunging me into silence before I could even form a protest.

My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the steady bass of the music. I barely had a second to nervously smooth my hair, checking my reflection in the dark glass of my phone, before a shadow fell across my table, blocking out the golden festival lights.

"Scusi."

His voice was a revelation—deep, rich, and textured, with an accent that suggested elite education abroad but roots firmly, authentically planted in Italian soil. It was a voice that promised stories and secrets.

"I hope I'm not intruding," he continued, his English flawless. "But I noticed you've been sitting alone, and that seems like a criminal waste on a night as beautiful as this."

Up close, he was even more potent. His dark eyes weren't just brown; they were deep pools of espresso, holding an intelligence and a hint of mischief that made my stomach flutter. A strong jawline was dusted with just the right amount of stubble, and his smile was a masterpiece—a curve of lips that was both genuinely charming and dangerously knowing. He carried an aura of effortless confidence, the kind that comes from a lifetime of getting exactly what he wanted.

I should have felt intimidated. I should have made an excuse and fled. But instead, that spark Olivia had tried to ignite burst into a small, defiant flame in my chest. It was reckless, and it was wholly unlike the careful, measured Bianca Morena I had always been.

"Maybe I like being alone," I said, surprising myself with the flirtatious, challenging lilt that colored my voice.

"Maybe," he conceded, his smile widening a fraction. "But that drink in your hand looks decidedly warm and unhappy. And I happen to know the bartender makes an exceptionally excellent mojito. Would you permit me to buy you one? No strings attached. Just two strangers, enjoying a beautiful night by the sea."

Every sensible cell in my body was screaming no. I should be the responsible daughter, the heiress who always made prudent choices, who never let emotion overrule logic.

But that heiress was being bartered away. That woman had spent twenty-six years playing by a rulebook written by everyone else.

Taking a slow, steadying breath, I made a choice. For me.

"I'm Bianca," I said, gesturing to the empty chair across from me.

His smile widened into something brilliant and triumphant, and something unreadable flickered in the depths of his eyes—satisfaction? Curiosity? I couldn't quite decipher it.

"Alesso," he replied, sliding into the seat as if he belonged there. "Alesso Santi."

He sat down, and I felt the world shift subtly, irrevocably, on its axis. The path of my lif

e forked in that moment, and I, for the first time, had chosen the road less traveled.