The campus slept. It was the kind of night where the air felt heavy, pressing against the windows like it wanted in. Leona should've been asleep hours ago, but her brain refused to shut off. Every creak of the building set her nerves on edge. Every gust of wind outside made her wonder if it was really the wind.
She lay on her back, one arm over her eyes, when it came again, the low, familiar purr of an engine in the distance. Her body went rigid.
Not again.
She pushed herself upright, listening. The sound grew louder, then cut suddenly. Silence thickened around her like fog. She got up and crossed to the window, pulling back the curtain with a trembling hand.
Nothing.
The courtyard was empty. No headlights, no bike, no shadow leaning against the fountain. Just darkness.
Her breath came out shaky, part relief, part disappointment. Disappointment she hated herself for. Because a part of her wanted him there. Watching. Waiting.
The knock came soft, deliberate, against her door.
Leona's blood iced.
She spun, every nerve sparking to life. No one should be here. Not this late.
Another knock. Three slow raps, like the sound of knuckles savoring each tap.
Her voice cracked. "Who is it?"
Silence.
Then, low and amused through the wood: "Princess."
Her stomach flipped. Her pulse thundered so loud it drowned out everything else. She backed away from the door. "Get lost, Moreno!"
The knob rattled once. Then it stilled. "Relax," he said, voice smooth and sharp as glass. "I'm not here to hurt you."
Her laugh came bitter. "That's funny. Because every time you show up, someone gets hurt."
Another silence. This one stretched long enough that she thought maybe he'd leave. Then came the words that chilled her worse than the knock.
"Open the door, or I'll make you."
Her throat tightened. She wanted to scream for help, but the building was practically empty this late. Most students were at parties or passed out in their own rooms. No one would come.
And if she screamed? That's exactly what he'd want. To make her look weak. To make her feel powerless.
Her hands shook, but she unlocked the door anyway. Better to face him on her terms than let him tear it off its hinges.
The second the door cracked, Zac pushed inside.
He filled the room instantly, taller, broader, darker than the shadows themselves. His leather jacket reeked of gasoline and night air. His smirk wasn't there this time. His eyes burned too sharply for that.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she snapped, backing away until her calves hit the bed. "Do you just get off on tormenting people?"
He closed the door behind him, slow and deliberate. "You keep saying you want me gone, but you always open the door."
"I opened it because you threatened me!"
Zac tilted his head, studying her like she was prey pretending to be a predator. "And yet… You didn't run. You didn't scream. You wanted me to come in."
Her nails bit into her palms. "You're insane."
He stepped closer. The space between them shrank until she had to tilt her chin up to meet his gaze. His shadow swallowed hers whole.
"Say it again," he murmured. "Say you don't think about me when you're alone at night. Say I don't live rent-free in that stubborn little head of yours."
Her pulse kicked against her throat. She wanted to deny it, wanted to shove him away and end this here. But the words tangled in her chest, stuck between fury and fear.
So she said the only thing she could. The thing was sharp enough to cut through his arrogance.
"You're pathetic."
For the first time, his smirk faltered.
Leona pressed forward, words spilling out before she could stop them, each one a dagger. "You act like some untouchable king, but everyone knows the truth. You're just a spoiled little boy throwing tantrums because mommy and daddy never loved you enough. You think being feared makes you powerful? No, Moreno. It makes you pitiful."
His jaw locked. She saw the flicker in his eyes. Hurt, raw and unguarded, before rage slammed over it like a shutter.
"Shut up," he growled.
But she didn't. She couldn't. Not when she finally saw the crack in his armor. "You're nothing without your gang, without your daddy's money. Take away the bike, the boys, the bullshit, and you're just a lonely, broken boy who scares people because he's terrified of being nothing."
Something inside him snapped.
In a blur, his hand closed around her arm and slammed her back against the wall. The impact rattled her bones, stole her breath. His face was inches from hers, eyes blazing with a fury that should've terrified her, yet she refused to look away.
"You don't know a damn thing about me," he snarled, his grip bruising against her skin.
Leona's heart pounded, but she forced herself to hold his gaze. Her voice trembled, but the words hit anyway. "I know enough."
His chest heaved, his breath hot against her cheek. For a moment, she thought he might actually—
Zac's fist crashed against the wall beside her head. The drywall cracked under the force.
Leona flinched, the sound exploding in her ears.
Silence fell. Heavy. Suffocating.
Zac stared at his hand buried in the wall, then down at her, his grip loosening but not releasing. Something unreadable flickered across his face.
It was gone in a blink, swallowed by that cold, practiced smirk.
He stepped back, dragging his hand from the wall, dust falling from his knuckles. "You don't get to talk about my family," he said, voice low and dangerous, though it shook just barely at the edges.
Leona's legs trembled, but she stayed upright, stayed defiant. "Then stop giving me reasons to."
For a second, the room felt like it would ignite.
Then Zac turned, shoving his fist into his pocket, his shoulders rigid. "You're lucky," he muttered. "If you weren't who you are, I'd—" He cut himself off, jaw clenching.
He didn't finish. He didn't need to.
The door slammed behind him a moment later, leaving Leona alone with the cracked wall and the bruises blooming on her arm.
Her whole body shook, but she refused to cry. Not for him. Not ever.
Still, as she slid to the floor, clutching her throbbing arm, one thought pulsed louder than the rest:
He had lost control, and he hated her for it. But what scared her most was that he also hated himself.