POV: Aria
"You were so calm when you pulled that trigger, Luca."
The words came out of me quickly and sharply, like I was drawing a blade by accident. But once they were gone, the thick, suffocating silence between us was too much to bear.
Aria, out of breath, whispers, "You shot him like he wasn't there." Like ending a life was as simple as letting out a breath.
Luca said in a calm, low voice, "And you didn't scream." That's what scares me. "Selene, who are you really?"
He took a step closer, and the candlelight cast shadows on his sharp jaw. There were still small spots of blood on the black of his suit. I should have pulled back. I needed to run. But I couldn't move my feet, and my chest hurt as I looked back into his fiery eyes.
A scared Aria said, "I'm the woman who's still here." "The person who didn't run."
He reached out and grabbed my chin, which made me tilt my head up and have to meet him.
Luca (voice like gravel): "Most people look at me like I'm a monster. But you…"
He trailed off, eyes raking across my face with unnerving intensity.
Aria (challenging, trembling): "Maybe I see the monster. Maybe I also see the man underneath."
For a heartbeat, his fingers tightened on my jaw, and I swore I saw something flicker behind his cold maskpain, regret, something raw.
The room was still heavy with the metallic stench of blood, though the body had already been dragged away by his men. Crystal glasses of untouched wine stood at the table, glowing under the golden light of the chandelier. The dinner that was supposed to be civil had turned into a stage for murder.
And yet here we were and he was caught in a storm that neither of us wanted to stop.
Luca (voice rough, almost breaking): "You should hate me."
Aria (bitter laugh): "Maybe I should. But hate and want are closer than people think."
His eyes darkened, his grip easing, and then his thumb brushed across my lower lip. My breath hitched.
Luca (low, dangerous): "You want me?"
Aria (defiant, trembling): "I don't know what I want. Maybe I want the part of you that scares me."
His chest rose sharply, like my words had hit him harder than any bullet.
Luca (growling, leaning in): "You're playing a game you don't understand, Selene."
Aria (whispering, lips barely moving): "And what if I understand it better than you think?"
He pulled back slightly, eyes narrowing, studying me as though I were the biggest danger in the room.
Luca (cold, suspicious): "You didn't scream tonight. You didn't freeze. You didn't look away. That's not being innocent. That's the past.
My face lost all of its blood. He was right.
"Maybe I've seen worse," Aria said in a quiet, shaking voice.
Luca snaps, "Worse than being put to death at my table?"
Aria's voice broke as she admitted she was telling half-truths: "Worse than men who say they are saviors but are really devils." I know scary things, Luca. That could be why I don't run away from you.
He stopped moving. No longer was the air between us just tense; it was filled with confession, danger, and desire all at the same time.
He walked up to me and almost touched my face.
The voice of Luca was low and hoarse: "You're going to ruin me."
Aria whispers back, out of breath, "Or maybe I'll save you."
His laugh was choked and raw, and he pushed the wine glass off the table without touching it. It broke, and the sound echoed like thunder. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me close to him.
"You don't know what you're doing," Luca growled and begged.
If you whisper it to his chest, Aria says, "Then teach me."
The light from the chandelier moved, and the broken glass on the floor looked like tiny mirrors in the light. It was so quiet outside at night that it seemed like everyone was holding their breath.
He hit me with a mouth that wasn't gentle or soft, but raw and hungry. I grabbed his shirt with both hands as if he were the only thing that could save me from drowning.
Aria gasped between kisses and said, "This is crazy."
Luca, putting his hand rough against my throat, said, "Then let it be crazy."
Aria whispers to him as she pulls him closer, "You'll kill me."
"I already am," Luca said, holding back a groan.
It was screaming at me to stop, push him away, and remember that he had blood on his hands. But my body lied to me because it needed him like air.
I was no longer the scared girl for once. It wasn't me who was the spy claiming to be someone else. I was just a woman in front of a scary monster that made me feel very much alive.
But there was one thought that kept coming back to me like a ghost: Every monster turns on the person who loves them in the end.
And I wondered if I would be alive when that day came?
His lips were close to mine, and his voice was rough and broken.
Luca: "Stay the night." Do not leave. "Not from me."
I should not have said yes. I needed to run. Instead, I said the one word that would decide my fate.
Aria whispers and shakily says, "Yes."
Even though he carried me down the dark hall while picking me up, I knew it wasn't love. Not yet. This was firewild, dangerous, and sure to burn us both.
As the door slammed behind us, I couldn't help but think of one question:
Was I interested in the guy... or the monster?