POV: Aria
"This isn't over," Luca whispered to me, his lips touching my ear. "Not even close."
He pulled away, leaving me shaking and with sore skin where he had been warm. My knees hurt, but I knew one thing for sure: I was falling into the trap I swore I would avoid.
"Enzo's heavy, urgent footsteps" came once more. Luca stood up straight, and his mask went back into place. But when Enzo walked into the room and looked at me, his eyes weren't relaxed; they were suspicious. (Too sketchy.)
His eyes were on me, but he said this to Luca: "She's not who you think she is."
There were cracks in the air. My blood froze over. Luca's jaw got tight, and his eyes went back to me. My body begged me to run, but my feet wouldn't move off the ground. The truth was coming out faster than I could keep it together.
"At that very moment, I knew that my mask was about to break, and Luca was going to be the one to do it."
Bitter and rich, the smell of roasted coffee filled the apartment kitchen. But it wasn't the drink that woke me up; it was his voice.
He said, "Stay," in a low, smooth, and authoritative voice. He leaned against the marble bar with a coffee cup in his hand. His eyes were as sharp as razor blades. "Be seen tonight with me." "Smile like you mean it."
My chest got tight. Every word he spoke was a velvet-wrapped order. I didn't ask. He told them. It hurt me that a part of me wanted to follow the rules.
"And if I don't smile?" Aria asked in a cold voice.
"I'll make you," Luca said with a grin and narrowed eyes.
He took a slow drink, like he had all the time in the world to get me to do what he wanted. My nails bit into the smooth stone as I dug my fingers into the edge of the counter.
I should've left. I should have been more clear about my goal. Find out the story. Stay away from people. That was the rule. But the way he looked at me made me feel like he could see through my skin.
"You think I'm just going to stand next to you like a doll?" Aria asked in a low voice, almost a whisper.
Luca said with a dark laugh, "No." Too many dolls break. You... you fight. That's why I need you there.
Aria bit her lip and said, "You don't want me." We want to be in charge.
Luca touched my ear with his voice and leaned in. "What if I told you both are the same?"
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the morning sun painted gold lines on his sharp jaw. He was too close to me, and I felt like I couldn't get away from him. My heart was beating so fast and hard that I was sure he could hear it.
"People won't see me with you." Not tonight. "Never again."
"Sethene, you don't get it." "You're already thought to be mine."
Aria snaps, her heart beating fast: "I'm not yours!"
"Then tell me why Enzo asked me if I had finally claimed you," Luca said, his eyes locked on mine.
It got cold in my body. Effie. I felt like I was getting hit by his name. It looked like the walls were closing in faster than I thought if Enzo was already talking about it.
My cover wasn't just thin if Luca believed it too, if he wanted it to be true. It was broken already.
"You're playing a dangerous game," Aria hissed.
Luca tilts his head and smiles, "And you act like you're not playing at all."
"I'm not your pawn," Aria said with a glare.
"No, Selene," says Luca as he moves closer and lowers his voice. You're my queen. But even queens have to stand out.
Aria, who was out of breath, said, "You're crazy."
Luca says with a half-smile that his eyes hurt, "Maybe." Tell me you don't feel this, though. Tell me not to make you smile.
It felt like a feather when his hand touched my jaw. My body lied to me by leaning into the touch I said I didn't want.
I was mad at him for it. I felt worse about myself.
It was in my bones that I knew this wasn't a game. Each word and touch was like putting together a chain, one link at a time. Before I knew it, I would be totally tied to him.
Aria, breathing heavily, said, "Luca, don't"
Luca cuts her off and says, "Too late." His voice is rough and angry.
He put his mouth on mine before I could move away. He was hungry, trying, and making a claim.
The kiss took away my breath, burned my determination, and broke down every wall I had built. I should've moved away. I should have said no.
A sharp voice cut through the air, though, just as my knees were giving out.
"Well, well... what do we have here?" asked Enzo, who was off-screen and cold and scary.
Everything froze.
After Enzo walks in, he sees them and stops them.