LOGIN**LUCA**The moment she stepped out of the car…I didn’t move, neither did i say any word.Didn’t even breathe properly.I just watched.The way she pulled her hoodie tighter around herself like she could hide inside it. The way her steps were just a little too fast, like she was trying to outrun something she couldn’t name.Or maybe she could, interesting.The car door shut, muffling the outside world again, but the image of her didn’t leave. It stayed right there, burned into my head like a brand.Shaking hands.Avoiding my eyes.Lying, and very badly too.I leaned back slowly, dragging a hand over my jaw, my thumb pressing hard against my lips as I replayed every second of that ride.Something happened.And she didn’t tell me.That was the part I didn’t like.Not the fear. Not the tension. Not even the lies.It was the fact that she thought she could keep something from me.A quiet, humorless chuckle slipped out of me.“Drive,” I said.The car pulled off, but my mind was already som
***SERA****The car door shut with a heavy, final sound that echoed straight through my chest.I didn’t move, i was dang surprised.I just sat there, hands clenched in my lap, staring at nothing while the world outside looked so empty. My heart was still racing from Rodriguez, from the photo, from the way my entire reality had just… tilted.And then—The driver’s door opened.I didn’t have to look.I felt him, he carried a heavy presence that made one shiver.Luca Vitale slid into the seat beside me, the scent of him following—dark, expensive, dangerous. It wrapped around me instantly, like it had been waiting.The engine started, and everywhere went very quiet, i couldn’t talk i just clenched the hem of my dress.I kept my gaze forward, my fingers digging into the fabric of my hoodie. If I looked at him, I knew I’d break. And right now, breaking wasn’t an option.Not with everything unravelling, not with him sitting this close, all i could think about was his lips, how i just wanted
**SERA**My eyes felt like they had been scrubbed with sandpaper. Every time I blinked, the fluorescent lights of the university lecture hall stabbed directly into my brain, a sharp reminder that I’d had exactly two hours of sleep and a lifetime’s worth of adrenaline.************I sat in the third row, staring at the blank blue book on the desk in front of me. Around me, the air was filled with energy of a hundred over-caffeinated seniors. The scratch of pencils, the rustle of paper, the hushed whispers of students trying to remember the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor.It was funny. Six months ago, I was one of them. I was the girl who worried about her GPA, the girl who wanted to work for the DA, the girl who believed that the world was divided into the good guys and the bad guys, i saw everything black and white.Now, I was just the girl who smelled like Luca Vitale.I leaned forward, burying my face in my hands for a second, and that’s when the scent hit me again.
*LUCA**“FUCK!”The roar ripped out of my throat, vibrating the heavy crystal tumblers on my bar cart. I didn’t just say it; I spat it into the empty, suffocating silence of the penthouse. The sound was raw, ugly, and entirely uncharacteristic of a man who prided himself on being the coldest person in any room.I was alone, and I was losing my goddamn mind, i never knew she has the much effect on me.My hand didn’t shake—I wouldn’t allow it—but my grip on the glass almost shattered. I was hard, i was aching, my cock straining against the expensive silk of my suit pants until the pressure was a dull, throbbing torture almost dripping pre cum, Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. Scarlett. Or Sera. Whatever the fuck her name really was.********I saw the way the purple light had caught the curve of her hip. I saw the way her nipples was poking , begging for a touch I’d denied both of us. The air in the room still smelled like her—something soft, like vanilla and cheap soap, clashi
**SERA**The metallic *click* of the lock sounded like a gunshot in the quiet room.I stood frozen by the heavy door, my heart furiously against my ribs so hard I thought he might see it jumping under my cheap cotton sweater.Luca Vitale didn’t move from his leather armchair. He sat completely relaxed, legs parted slightly, one hand resting casually on the armrest while the other spun a heavy crystal tumbler of whiskey on ice . The dim, moody lighting of the room caught the sharp angles of his handsome face and the dangerous, predatory gleam in those striking green eyes.***********He didn’t look like a man who had just handed over two hundred grand. He looked like a king waiting for his tribute.“Strip,” he had said. *And this time, I want you to enjoy it.***********The absolute arrogance of the command made my blood run hot. Not just with anger, but with something darker and much more terrifying that curled heavy in my gut. I hated him. I hated this room, I hated the situation, a
**SERA**I woke up to my phone ringing at seven AM, three hours after I'd finally fallen asleep. The number was unknown.My heart stopped. Gianna."Hello?""Your sister is at Chicago Mercy Hospital. Emergency room. She's alive."The line went dead.I was out of bed and dressed in under two minutes, grabbing my keys with shaking hands. Isabella was still asleep. I didn't wake her. Just ran.The hospital was twenty minutes away. I made it in twelve.I pushed through to the reception desk where a tired-looking nurse barely glanced up."Gianna Moretti. She was just brought in. Where is she?"The nurse typed slowly. "Are you family?""I'm her sister. Her only family. Please."She nodded and pointed down a hallway. "Room 17. The police are with her."Police. My stomach dropped. The kidnappers had said no police.I ran down the hallway and burst through the door.Gianna sat on a hospital bed, wrapped in a blanket, looking small and broken. A female officer stood beside her, notebook in hand.







