Maria's POV
"I told you to stay with me." Luca said to me immediately I arrived at his penthouse.
I paused to look at him as an idea got to me.
"How do I know you didn't plan this?" I said him.
Luca was silent for a while, then he said: "You really believe I could stoop that low to have you by my side?"
He gently moved closer to me, slowly. His face expressionless like he was about to charge at me.
I try to stay tough, but the look on his face made me scared. I swallowed but he came closer. His masculine scent I could now smell.
"Who do you think you are, Maria Santina? Just because I find you interesting does not give you the right the insult my personality. I can have any woman..."
"You can't have me." I interrupted him.
"You might be able to get any woman you want, Mr De Rossi but not me." I repeated. "And you may not have orchestrated this attack on him but you are surely the reason I'm in this mess."
"And I apologise for the burden I've caused you but I can take care of it."
"Then take care of it." I fired. "So I can go back to my life. Like I never met you, Mr De Rossi. Because all my life, I've known safety. Safety and peace. Yes, I may not be rich and powerful and famous and scary as everyone is about you but I was safe."
I could feel my voice shaking. Tears choking me from talking but thankfully I finished my statement. I wiped the tears welling up in my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Maria if I made you feel unsafe..." Luca started as he handed me his handkerchief. I shoved past him, ignoring the handkerchief.
"But do you really think you were safe? All those years you lived alone in that place you call home and you call that safety?"
"Yes." I answered firmly.
"Then you are not as smart as I thought you were, doll."
I turned to him and watched him for a while. Then I shook my head and said, "I don't care what you think of me, Mr De Rossi. I just want to go back home."
"Then home you will go but at least let me make sure it's okay before you go back there."
"You'll remain here until I find out who tried to attack you. Until then..." he turned to Alex. "Alex, per favore, portala nella sua stanza."
"Si." Alex replied. Then he turned to me, "let's get you to a room now, ma'am."
********
Luca's POV
After I instructed Alex to take Maria to her room, I received a call.
"Hello boss." The caller said to me in Italian.
"Yes, Your guy came through for me today, Fabby." I replied him.
"I'm glad I could be of help to you sir. But I must confess, your little doll did hurt him a little."
I laughed, guess Maria is as strong as she looks, I said to myself. A smirk curled on my lips.
"Well then, compensate your man for any damages incurred. In the meantime, I need you to look into that faggot I sent you."
"Yes boss, I will. I already have my people working on him. But it'll be interesting for you to know that he's actually Italian sir."
"An Italian homosexual, I won't want to believe that."
"And what's more, his real name isn't Daniel."
I scoffed. "I don't care what his name is, I want to know what business he has with me. He said some things he shouldn't have and I want to know why."
"I'll get on it sir."
"Fabby?"
"Sir?"
"My shipment, I need something." I could feel the impatience in my own voice.
I heard Fabby sigh through the phone, "sir, whoever did this to your shipment did a clean job sir. They left no trace, no message."
"Emilio said they are not like my former attacks. Would you agree?"
Gabby sighed again, "yes sir, I think you might be looking at new enemies here."
I didn't say anything for a while. The last thing I need right now is a new enemy.
"Keep digging, I believe you'll find something soon."
"Yes sir."
I hung up immediately, inhaled deeply, then I heard Alex come back.
"I got her to the room sir." Alex said to me in Italian. I nodded and asked him to go get some rest.
I went up to my room and went straight into my bathroom. Inside it, I turned on the TV I had installed in the room just recently. There, I could see every bit of the room Maria was in, even the bathroom.
"I'm sorry, little doll, but I think I might just have to hold on to you a little." I said to myself.
Maria's POVThe fire in front of me was warm, but I still felt a little chill inside me.I sat in front of the fireplace, holding a glass of whisky. I watched the flames move, but all I could see was the car from earlier. The one that exploded behind us. That could have been me. One second slower, one wrong move… and I would’ve been gone.I took a sip. The drink burned a little. I didn’t even like whisky, but it helped tonight. I just needed something.I wasn’t crying today. Like I used to. Not anymore. Today, I was proud of myself.I ran. I acted. I got Alex and me out. I didn’t freeze. I didn’t fall apart. And Luca… he saw that… and he looked at me with pride in his eyes.I’m in this now. I told myself again.Not just a guest. Not just someone Luca De Rossi was helping. I am with Luca De Rossi.And when we’re done with Alejandro, I’ll make him find the one who messed up my apartment. I’ll make sure of it.I heard the door open behind me.Luca.He walked in slowly. I didn’t turn aro
Luca’s POVMaria was quiet that morning. Too quiet. She stood near the window, arms folded, looking out like the sky might have an answer she hadn't found yet. I could still see the grief in her eyes. Faint, but it hadn’t gone away.She turned when I walked in."You’re going to London."I didn’t answer right away. I just grabbed the files from the table and zipped up the bag. Alex was downstairs already, checking the vehicles. We were ready to go."Take care of yourself while I’m gone," I said, keeping my tone light.But Maria stepped forward. "I want to go with you."I paused.She was serious. Her eyes told me she wasn’t making a request. Not really."Maria... it’s not a trip. It’s business. Dangerous business.""I know. And I don’t care. I need to get out of here. I can’t sit in this house and keep thinking about that place... that apartment. It’s like it’s haunting me."I looked at her for a long second. She wasn’t shaking like she used to. There was pain, yes. But something else h
Luca’s POVI stepped into the living room and froze.Maria was curled up on the couch like a broken thing. Her shoulders hunched. Her head bowed low. Her eyes met mine for a second—red and hollow, like she's been crying all day, leaving traces of tears to dry.She didn’t speak.She didn’t need to.I walked over quietly, and she looked up again, forcing the words out like they burned in her throat.“They destroyed everything. Everything I owned in that apartment.”Her voice cracked on the word everything.She inhaled slowly, trying to stay composed. I could see her jaw tighten. She wasn’t trying to get pity—she was trying to keep herself from falling apart.“Whoever got into my apartment destroyed everything, Mr De Rossi. That apartment was empty when I got it. From the mattress to every other thing in it, I bought it with the money I worked for. Every single item.”Her voice got thinner.“And they destroyed it all. All of it.”I sat beside her, my throat dry.She turned away, her eyes
Maria’s POVI woke up to an empty bed.Luca was gone.Only a gentle scent of him stayed on the pillow beside me—sweaty, masculine and yet clean. I pulled the sheets up over my bare chest, stretching slowly, the ache between my thighs a reminder of last night. What started with a question ended with him—inside me, around me, everywhere. And though I’d gotten some of the answers I was looking for, there were still parts of Luca I knew he could still tell me.I got up and put on a robe, and walked into the living room where I found him at the window, already dressed in a black suit, tie in hand.“Morning,” I said, voice still husky from sleep.He turned, his eyes drinking me in from head to toe. “Morning, doll.”I sat on the edge of the couch, tucking my legs beneath me. He came to me, kissed my head and asked what plans I had for today.I knew what I was about to say would upset him a little so I hesitated.He could see my hesitation so he asked, “what is it?”“I’d like to go to my apa
Luca's POVHer question hit me like a bullet."Why do you have a camera in my room?"Everything in me stilled. My breath, my hands, my thoughts. For a second, I stared into her eyes, trying to figure out what she already knew, what she had seen. But then she looked at me like she wasn’t afraid—like she still wanted me—like she still wanted me to know I could still have her. Even if the walls were starting to crack.So I didn’t say anything. Not yet.Instead, I held her closer and kissed her again.No way I'm missing this chance.I kissed her slowly, deeply, like I had all the time in the world. My hand slid down the curve of her waist, pulling her closer until her body melted into mine again. Her legs wrapped around me with ease, like her body already knew the rhythm.The tips of her wet inside I could already feel on the tip of my hard member.I moved with time now—not rushed, but deliberate. She gasped as I let myself slide inside her, her hands holding my shoulders like she didn’t
Maria's POV“Hey.” Luca said as he planted a kiss on my head. Joining me on the dining table.There was a bruise on his fist so I asked what happened and he said nothing.I saw the look on his face and I could tell he doesn't want me to press any further.So I didn't.“Were you able to deal with that problem from earlier?” I asked him.“What problem?”“The London problem.”“Oh… it's escalated. I don't want to talk about it now.”“Does it have to do with why you had the security here tightened?”“Yes.” Luca answered almost immediately and continued with his meal.I didn't say anything for a while. I just carried on eating.The whole dining room became silent to only the noise of our cutlery hitting our plates.“I want to go home for a while.” I said all of a sudden.Luca paused his food but then asked, “why?”“I just wanna be there. Even if it's just for a while. If it doesn't feel safe, then I'll come back.”“Well, I don't think it's safe. Especially with what has just happened.” Luca
Chapter 13 - Calm Luca De Rossi Fomo Luca's POV“I could go to London for you sir.” Alex said after I told him of my plan.“No, I need you here.” I replied, I couldn't risk Alex going into somewhere I myself wasn't sure of.“I'll send Emilio. He's better at handling things like this.”In the meantime, I need to make a call. I need to order a new shipment. My distributors would be expecting something.“But we won't be able to make enough to cover all distributors.”“No, we just need to focus on the most important ones. Those ones we know won't be patient enough to understand the attack on my shipment.”A call came in and Alex said it was a private number.I collected the phone and answered the call.I didn't say anything, I just placed the call on speaker and muted. I needed to hear the sound from the other end first. It was a safe strategy for me.For almost 30 seconds, there was silence. Neither I, Alex or the caller said anything. Almost like the caller was doing the same thing I
Maria's POVLuca left me in his room and I continued alone in his bed, turning on it and fantasizing about what I wanted him to do to me.I intoxicated myself in his scent. As the bed was now full of his masculine scent. My body tingled, my eyes closed and I rub my legs together.If only he had just touched me… if that were the only thing he did, I'm sure I would have released my tension in my body.I thought of the last time I had a good orgasm from a man. It was like two years ago. With Liam.Oh… Liam was good.I always thought of submitting to a man especially in sex as archaic and barbaric.Making love should be active from both sides but Liam always wanted to dominate and make me submit.Because I loved him, I allowed him.As one who worked for a federal agency, Liam had an handcuff. So he could lock my hands to the bed and ‘dominate’ as he said.The first time was scary. I asked Liam for a safe word and he said “stop” would be enough as our safe word.I nodded.But then Liam wo
Luca’s POVShe was still there.Her bare arm curled over the pillow, her hair a mess of wild curls on my chest. One of her legs had slipped out of the covers sometime during the night, and it was hovering over mine. Her mouth was slightly opened, her eyes shut peacefully. She was still deeply asleep.I didn’t move. I just watched.There was something about the way she slept—like all her fire was on pause. As though the same woman who argued with me like a storm could also fold so effortlessly into my sheets, into my space, like she belonged here.And maybe she did.I smiled gently to myself, tracing the line of her shoulder with my eyes. Her skin looked softer in the morning light. She shifted a little, her body coming closer to me. Like we weren't already close enough.But I didn’t move.I only watched her some more. Inhaling her scent.Because if I touched her now, I wouldn't be able to stop.My phone vibration broke the quiet atmosphere. I reached for it carefully, making sure not