STARTER FOR @7mplications
Luca had taken the long way through the city's streets, though he couldn’t remember choosing it. The city blurred past in streaks of gold and shadow, headlights carving sharp lines through the dark. His hand gripped the wheel hard enough that the leather creaked, the other wound around the rosary his mother once pressed into his palm. The beads dug into his skin with every turn, a rhythm that barely held him together.
When he reached Lia’s building, he parked a block away. Always. Habit. Rules. No one needed to see his car outside her door. Still, his jaw ticked as he adjusted his cuffs, straightened his jacket, and crossed the narrow street. His steps were steady, controlled. Only the muscle in his cheek betrayed him. He studied her. “You’ve been busy, no?” The words were smooth, but there was an edge beneath them, cold and deliberate.
He stepped past her, closing the door behind him with a soft click that sounded far too final. “I know a lot of things, amore mio.” His voice dropped, silk over steel. “But I like to hear them from you.”
He didn’t move closer—he didn’t need to. The air between them was already taut. His gaze lingered, dark and assessing, the way a man looks at something that belongs to him but has slipped out of reach.
