Rain followed us like a warning as Enzo guided Elena and me toward the waiting car, his gun still raised, eyes scanning every shadow. The city lights blurred in streaks across the pavement, mixing gold with danger.
Elena's wrist trembled where my hand held her.Her breaths were sharp, uneven—more from the shock of the attack than from my grip.But she didn't pull away.
She knew better than to fight me now.
The attempt on her life changed everything.
"Get inside," I ordered quietly, opening the door of the backseat.
She looked up at me, eyes wide and frightened, but there was something else beneath the fear… something hotter. Something she tried desperately to hide.
My voice dropped."Elena. Inside."
She obeyed.
Good.
The moment the door shut, the world outside faded, leaving only the soft hum of the engine and the quick rise and fall of her breaths.
I slid into the seat beside her, the heat of her body radiating toward me, seeping into the air between us. Too close. Too tempting.
She pressed herself against the far door like distance could save her.
"Elena," I said, my tone a soft command.
She flinched.Not out of fear—out of recognition.
"You're shaking," I murmured.
"I almost died," she shot back, voice cracking. "Of course I'm shaking."
I leaned closer, just enough for her heartbeat to echo in my ears."You wouldn't have died."
"How can you say that?"
"Because I was there."
Her eyes met mine—angry, confused, burning.
"You think you can just appear and control everything again?" she whispered. "I left for a reason."
"You walked away from my world," I corrected."You never walked away from me."
Her breath hitched.She hated how her body reacted to my voice.I could see the way her chest rose faster, how her fingers twitched as if fighting the urge to reach for me.
"Elena," I murmured, leaning in so close my breath brushed her neck, "you're not safe without me."
She swallowed. "And I'm safe with you?"
"Always."
She laughed—soft but bitter. "You're the most dangerous man I've ever met."
I smirked. "And yet you trusted me with your life."
"Not willingly!"
"But you did."
The car jostled slightly over a cobblestone, pushing her closer to me. Her shoulder brushed my chest, sending a ripple of heat straight through me.
She jolted back like she'd been burned.
"Don't," she whispered.
"Don't what?"
"Don't look at me like that."
I tilted my head. "How am I looking at you?"
"Like you… own me."
My voice dropped an octave."Elena. Look at me."
She refused.
So I guided her chin toward me, slowly, not forcefully—just enough for her eyes to meet mine.
She gasped softly at the contact.
"You think I look at you like I own you?" I asked, my thumb brushing the corner of her jaw.
She nodded, breathless.
I leaned into her space, our faces inches apart.A dangerous, delicious proximity.
"No," I murmured."I look at you like I want you."
Her eyes widened—heat blooming in them so quickly she couldn't hide it.
The air between us tightened.
Electric.
Dangerous.
Irresistible.
My thumb traced the line of her lower lip, slower than necessary.Her breath shuddered out, her lips parting slightly, as if remembering what they felt like under mine.
"Luca…" she whispered, voice trembling.
That sound—my name on her tongue—hit me like impact.
My body tensed with restrained hunger.
She felt it.She knew it.And it made her eyes darken with something she shouldn't feel.
"You're trembling again," I whispered.
She shook her head, but her body betrayed her—leaning into my touch for half a heartbeat before she snapped away.
"Stop," she breathed. "You can't… you can't just walk back into my life and act like nothing changed."
"Everything changed," I said, voice sharp. "Tonight proved that."
She looked away. "I can't live in fear, Luca. I can't be pulled into your world again."
I moved closer, my hand bracing beside her head, trapping her gently—not forcefully.A cage of warmth.Of power.
"You're already in my world," I said softly. "You always were."
Her breath hitched again—a quiet, helpless sound she tried to swallow.
"Tell me you didn't feel anything just now," I whispered. "Tell me I'm wrong."
She opened her mouth—
And closed it.
Her silence said everything.
A slow smile touched my lips, dark and knowing.
"Elena."
Her name was a caress and a warning.
"We're done," she whispered, but without conviction.
"We're not," I replied.
"We are."
I leaned in until my forehead nearly touched hers.
"Then why," I murmured, "are you shaking every time I touch you?"
Her eyes fluttered shut.
"Why do you look at me like you remember everything I ever did to you?"
Her breathing turned shallow.
"And why," I whispered against her ear, "do you still say my name like a secret?"
"Elena," I continued, voice low and sinful, "if you truly wanted me gone… your body wouldn't be answering me."
She trembled.Just once.
But enough.
"Elena."I brushed my knuckles along her throat."Tell me you feel nothing."
"I—"Her voice caught."I can't."
I smiled darkly. "Exactly."
The car slowed as we approached my private villa on the hill overlooking the city, lights glowing in the fog.
As Enzo parked, I pulled away from her just enough to let her breathe.
Her cheeks were flushed.Her lips slightly parted.Her eyes wide with the kind of desire she hated admitting.
But she felt it.
God, she felt it.
I opened my door, stepping out, the rain muted now under the villa's stone awning.
I turned back to her, offering my hand.
She stared at it.
At me.
At the darkness waiting inside the villa.
"Elena," I said softly, dangerously, "come inside."
She hesitated—
Then placed her hand in mine.
And as I pulled her from the car, guiding her into my world again, one truth burned hotter than the night itself:
She wasn't running from me anymore.
She was falling.
Back into the arms of the man she feared…
And the only man she'd ever wanted.