The second time that Ezio experienced love was his first sexual encounter with a woman. He must have been barely sixteen, if not a year younger, and her name was Donatea Valorini. She was a curvy young girl with dark brown hair that became unmanageable in the humid months and deep eyes, curving brows. She caught his eye on her way to the Banco with a companion. He was leaving with Frederico leading the way, trying his best to get away from the place as soon as possible. From beneath those arching brows and atop a gently wavering fan her dark eyes pierced him and he seized up, blushing like the inexperienced boy he had been. A week later he had been ambling through the streets when she had engaged him in conversation. They kissed in an alleyway that reeked of piss and spilt wine, then retreated to her chamber where he was left shivering to the gentle touch of her teasing fingers. She had licked her lips and he had melted like wax under the flame of a candle. She bid him goodbye a mere thirty minutes later, still naked, and allowed him one more caress of her smooth skin before he ran back home, a secret smile on his bruised lips. That was when he had fallen in love with women.

The third time...the third time was different. The third time was still happening. Ezio still loved riding, women, wine, a rich pasta sauce, but now...
This time was not as teasing and naïve as the touches he had shared at the age of sixteen, though it was just as new to him.
This time was not as life-threatening as the danger he had experienced at six, though it was just as daunting and petrifying.
He was falling in love with his friend, his companion...
He was falling in love with Leonardo.