Aria POV
The car was quiet.
Not awkward quiet. Heavy quiet. The kind that pressed against my chest and made every breath feel louder than it should be. The city lights blurred past the window, reflections stretching and breaking like my thoughts.
I sat with my hands folded in my lap, trying very hard not to look at Luca.
That was impossible.
He sat beside me, calm as always, one arm resting against the seat, his attention forward but somehow still aware of me. I could feel it. The way his presence filled the space. The way my body reacted to it without permission.
My heart was still racing from the restaurant. From the way he stepped in. From the way he said I was his without asking if I wanted him to.
And the terrifying part was that I did.
I swallowed hard, emotions pressing up unexpectedly. Anger I thought I had buried. Embarrassment. Relief. And something dangerously close to wanting to cry.
"You do not have to hold it in," Luca said quietly.
I stiffened. "Hold what in"
"That," he replied, finally turning his head to look at me.
The gentleness in his eyes undid me.
I looked away quickly. "I am fine."
"You are not," he said. Not accusing. Just certain.
My fingers curled into the fabric of my dress. "I hate that they still get to affect me," I whispered. "I hate that she can look at me like she won something. Like I was replaceable."
His jaw tightened.
"You were never replaceable," he said. His voice dropped lower. Controlled. Dangerous in its restraint. "They touched something they had no right to."
I laughed weakly. "You sound angry on my behalf."
"I am," he said.
That made my chest ache.
I closed my eyes, images rising unbidden. Luca standing between me and them. His hand at my back. The way his voice wrapped around me like a promise. My imagination betrayed me then, drifting to what his hands would feel like if they were not just protective but claiming.
Heat spread through me, startling and unwelcome.
I shifted slightly, pressing my thighs together.
Luca noticed.
Of course he did.
His breath changed. Just slightly. His gaze dropped to my movement and then back to my face. Something dark flickered there before he masked it.
I felt suddenly exposed. Seen in a way that had nothing to do with vulnerability and everything to do with desire.
My pulse jumped.
We stopped outside my gate far too soon.
The car idled as silence settled again.
"Thank you," I said softly. "For tonight."
He did not answer immediately. His eyes traced my face slowly, as if committing it to memory.
"Go inside," he said finally. "Get some rest."
I hesitated. "Will I see you again"
The question slipped out before I could stop it.
His mouth curved slightly. "You will."
That was all.
I stepped out of the car on unsteady legs, my heart pounding for reasons that had nothing to do with fear. I did not look back as I walked inside, but I could feel his gaze on me until the door closed.
Inside my room, I leaned against the door, breath shallow.
My body hummed. My mind replayed everything. His voice. His nearness. The way he looked at me like he wanted something he refused to take.
I slid down onto the bed and pressed my hands to my face.
Get a grip, Aria.
But my body did not listen.
Luca POV
The moment the door closed behind her, I exhaled sharply.
Darius glanced at me from the front seat. "You alright back there"
"No," I said honestly.
He chuckled. "Thought so."
The truth sat heavy in my body. Uncomfortable. Unignorable. I shifted slightly, adjusting my jacket, irritation burning under my skin.
Desire was not new to me.
This was different.
This was sharp. Insistent. The kind that had settled low and hard, unrelieved by logic or restraint. My body had reacted to her without asking permission, and that alone pissed me off.
"She was shaking," I said quietly.
"Yes," Darius replied. "Because those two idiots are trash."
"They made her feel small," I continued. "I do not tolerate that."
He glanced at me in the mirror. "You are not supposed to tolerate it. She is not nothing to you."
I clenched my jaw.
"I wanted to hurt them," I admitted. "Not because they insulted me. Because they made her eyes look like that."
Darius whistled softly. "That bad, huh"
"Yes."
The rest of the drive passed in silence.
At the hotel, I moved straight to my suite, stripping off my jacket and loosening my collar. My body was still tight with tension. Want without release was a dangerous thing.
I poured a drink and took a long swallow.
It did nothing.
I was still hard. Still imagining the way her breath hitched when I stood close. The way she pressed her thighs together in the car, how pecky her breast was.
I closed my eyes briefly.
A knock interrupted my thoughts.
"Enter," I said.
The door opened and my father walked in like he owned the place.
Because he did.
He studied me with sharp eyes. "You look distracted."
"I am busy," I replied.
"So am I," he said, taking a seat. "Which is why we need to discuss the shipment."
I turned fully toward him. "What about it"
"The drugs are coming through the eastern port," he said. "Too visible. Too risky."
"We reroute," I said without hesitation. "Split it into smaller loads."
He nodded. "Agreed. There is also a new player asking questions."
My focus snapped back fully now. "Who"
"Someone ambitious," he said calmly. "And ambition makes people stupid."
"We will handle it," I replied.
He stood. "Make sure you do."
After he left, I stood alone in the room, staring out over the city.
My body still burned. My thoughts still circled back to one woman with tired eyes and a sharp tongue who had no idea how close she came to being claimed by instinct alone.
I tightened my grip on the glass.
Soon, I promised myself.
Soon.
And whoever made her cry again would learn exactly how inpatient I was.
