Ezio mulls that over a moment — it’s possible, he supposes, that he is simply not interested in accepting the darker implications that Stephanie seems content to cloak herself in. But on the other hand, with time frozen in Italia, he’s content to bathe in the idea that he might be able to just live his life, unbothered by politics and overt violence...

He shakes his head.

“Paradisa is the only place I can do anything lasting, dolcezza,” he says. “I meant it when I said women cannot keep up with me. I keep the company I do for a reason.”