POV: Aria
When Luca's voice dropped, it wasn't just an order; it felt like a chain was getting tighter around my throat.
"You're going to stay at my penthouse tonight."
The words were smooth, but there was a weight behind them that made them feel like an iron lock was forced shut.
"You tell me what to do like I agreed to work for you."
"You didn't have to sign." When you saved me at the club, you came into my life. "If it's not mine, no one will take a bullet for me."
The image of breaking glass and pushing him to the floor with my body flashed through my mind like a blade. Since that night, my heart had been beating fast. Loyalty wasn't what made me move. Even my gut wasn't behind it. It was something scary that I couldn't name.
"Don't be too nice to yourself." "I did it for you, not you."
"Tell me then, Aria." Who was it for? The man who almost died? Or the man you can't stop looking at even when you try to look away?"
He lied to me by putting heat on my face, and I hated him for it.
City smoke was moving through the open patio doors and into the air between us. New York was full of lights and chaos below, but up here in Luca Romano's glass world, there were just the two of us. The collar of his white shirt was unzipped, and his suit jacket hung open. Simple. Not safe. A dangerous animal at ease in its own den.
I should've left. Every part of my mind told me to run away before his world ate me up. But there was something alluring about him that I both hated and wanted.
Aria kept her voice calm and asked, "What if I say no to your... invitation?"
A tipped Luca asked, his eyes as sharp as glass: "Invitation?" He laughed darkly. "No, sweetheart. That wasn't a welcome. I gave you a choice to make it sound less like a threat.
My chest got tight.
"You can't make me."
"Why not me?" Aria, I don't like being asked things I can't answer. I'll start to wonder why you walk out that door. We'll both lose in that case.
My heart rate went up. At least not all the time out of fear. It was the kind of fear that mixed with something far more dangerous: desire.
Luca's phone buzzed loudly on the glass table just as I was about to answer back. When he looked at the screen, his jaw tensed up for the first time since I met him.
Aria (noticing his shift): "What is it?"
He ignored me and picked up the call.
"Talk."
The sound on the other end was muffled, but I caught fragments: "…warehouse hit… Inside a liar... "Your name got out."
It made my stomach hurt. My name is.
Aria, with a heavy heart, says, "They know me?"
After snapping the phone shut, he didn't answer it. His eyes were sharp and hard to read.
Luca said in a quiet, risky voice, "It looks like your past isn't as hidden as you say it is."
I felt cold all through my body. I had been careful. I had thrown away everything and destroyed all connections. No one should have known who I was anymore.
I couldn't get rid of the thought: if someone leaked my name, it wasn't by accident. Someone from my past had betrayed me. Someone meant for me to die.
"No, that's not possible."
Luca stepped closer and grabbed my chin so I couldn't look away. "Ariana, don't lie to me. In my world, lies kill people. It doesn't matter if it's mine or yours.
Aria snaps, her eyes burn: "Let go of me."
He did, but the mark of his touch was still there.
"You think you can survive on your own now?" asked Luca in a softer, more disturbing tone. Walk out that door and see how long before they find you."
It made me angry that he was right.
"Maybe you're the reason they're after me."
"Aria, you wouldn't be here breathing if I wanted you to leave."
"You're going to stay at my penthouse tonight." Not because you want to, but because you need to. You won't be leaving my sight until I figure out who is after you and why.
"What if I say no?"
"Good, I'll take that as a yes from you."
I really wanted to say yes, God help me. Not because they are scared or worried about their safety. But because of the way he looked at me dark, steady, sureI felt seen in a way I hadn't in years. I was more scared of that than the gunshots.
He turned his back on me, walking toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. He looked like he was half in dark and half in firelight as city lights flickered across his sharp face.
"Aria, you make the choice. You can sleep here tonight or risk your life with people who want you dead. "Anyway..." Taking a moment to look over his shoulder, he said, "...you'll end up mine."
My breath caught.
I knew right then that I was trapped, whether I left or stayed.
Ariane said in a whisper, more to herself than to him, "God, what have I done?"
Luca, now fully turned, spoke a promise and a threat: "Into me, Aria." It will be easier if you accept that right away.
The city shook below us. The door to freedom was wide open. Still, my hand was shaking as I reached for the wine glass on the table instead of the handle.
Since I already knew the truth.
She stayed.