POV: Aria
"You never bring toys to the table," Camilla said in a voice that cut through the restaurant's low noise like a blade. Everyone looked at me.
The diner was dark, and lamps that looked like fire pits let out gold light. Crystal glasses hit each other. The servers moved like ghosts. Still, all I could feel in that bright room was the storm building up between us.
Camilla sat across from me at the table. She had a dangerous smile on her red lips, and her eyes kept moving from Luca to me like she was sharpening a knife.
Camilla whispers, "So, Luca... why bring her here?" as she leans forward. "Never bring toys to the table."
My back got stiff, and the heat made my face flush. Toy. It burned.
"Maybe I'm not a toy," Aria said in a low, steady voice that wouldn't move.
Camilla's laugh was soft and classy, but it was full of poison.
Cam: "Then what are you?"
The question was like smoke in the air. That was it from Luca. His eyes were locked on me and couldn't see me. It was like he was daring me to say something I wasn't sure I had.
Aria, her heart pounding, turned to Luca and said, "Tell her."
His eyes didn't move.
Luca said in a calm voice, "You don't need a label, Aria." "Just sit down, smile, and be quiet."
I didn't want to accept how much that hurt. Don't talk. It felt like I was just an extra in his dangerous world.
I didn't lower my eyes, though.
Aria asked with her teeth clenched, "Why bring me if I'm just a shadow next to you?"
Camilla smiled and sipped her wine.
"Good question," Camilla said. Luca doesn't like being interrupted. Still, "here you are."
The waiter brought me plates that I couldn't eat. I wasn't scared; I was angry that I was being tried in a game I didn't fully understand. My fork shook a little in my hand.
Luca finally leaned forward, and his voice was smooth as silk over steel.
"Because she belongs here, Camilla," Luca said. "Whether you like it or not."
It got quiet in the room. Camilla's smirk broke. For a second. Then it came back stronger than before.
(Camilla making fun) "Belongs? Together? Or to you?"
The word "to" made my heart race.
Aria says through tears, "I don't belong to anyone."
Luca looked at me quickly and said, "Warning, fire, danger."
Low and threatening, Luca said, "Be careful, Aria."
I held back my response, but my silence didn't mean I gave up.
There should have been fancy wine and nice lies that night. But the mask fell off in the middle of the meal.
A man walked up to the table. He was big and dressed in a dark suit. His face was angry with greed. His English was very clear.
Stranger: "Collins sent me." Your time is up, he says.
It made my stomach hurt. Collins. CEO Collins. The name that kept coming back to Luca's office like a ghost.
Aria, in a scared whisper, asks, "Collins?" "He's"
Luca put up his hand to silence me.
Luca said, "You don't say his name here."
The man leaned in and spoke in a low, dangerous voice.
Stranger: "Maybe then you'll hear his message." What you owe must be paid... "Do it or bleed for it."
The restaurant was filled with gasps. Camilla did nothing but watch, giving a small smile as if this were the real pleasure she had come for.
I hardly saw Luca because he was moving so fast. One second he was sitting, and the next he had his hand around the man's throat and slammed him against the table. The glass broke. The wine got everywhere like blood.
Luca growled, "You came up to my dinner table and made threats?"
The man choked and fought, but Luca wouldn't let go. His jaw clenched and his fingers turned white.
"Luca, stop! People are watching," Aria begged.
I thought he heard me. He might not have cared.
The look in Camilla's eyes was twisted with happiness.
"Show her, Luca," Camilla said with a smirk. Be honest with her.
He reached out and picked up a knife from the table. I gasped for air, but Luca moved faster. He turned around, grabbed the blade, and drove it into the man's chest all at once.
The restaurant got cold.
The man gurgled and then fell down, soaking the white tabletop with blood.
I was short of breath. While I looked at the red spot on the silverware and tablecloths, my hands were shaking very badly.
Aria, her voice breaking in shock, said, "You...you killed him."
Luca felt his chest heave once. Two times. After that, he sat back down and adjusted his cufflinks as if nothing had happened. His face was cold and calm.
Luca said it straight out: "He was dead as soon as he walked in."
"You didn't even think," Aria said in a shaking, whispered voice. It wasn't even"
Luca cut me off and said, "This is my world, Aria." You asked to be in it. You've seen it now.
The blood on my skin made me want to scream, run, and scratch, but no one had touched me. But I didn't move from my chair because I felt like I couldn't leave.
Camilla got closer, and her voice was like poison honey.
Camilla said, "Poor Aria. Did you think he was just a man with dark eyes and sharp suits? No, he's a bad guy. "You've seen the teeth now."
The corners of my eyes hurt from tears, but I wouldn't let them fall.
Aria said in a whisper, "Why me, Luca?" "Why do you want to drag me into this?"
He turned around, and his eyes burned into me, making it impossible to read them.
Luca, who is weak and dangerous, said, "Because you remember me." For as long as I can afford to.
The skilled waiters moved quietly and wiped out the blood as if it were wine. No one screamed. No one came back. It was normal for them.
Camilla leaned back and smiled.
Lucia, Camilla told him, "Collins won't stop here." When he comes to get her... She points at me and asks, "Will you kill him too?"
My heart beat fast. Collins. Once more. Always Collins.
I was dying to know what to say when I looked at Luca.
He didn't give it to me.
It got so heavy that I couldn't stand the silence any longer. My voice broke.
"Luca, if Collins comes for me, would you kill for me too?" Aria asked, shaking and scared.
Luca's jaw got tight. His angry, hard-to-read eyes locked on mine.
It wasn't an answer.
He leaned across the bloody table and kissed me instead. He was angry, hungry, and desperate.
At first, I couldn't tell if the taste in my mouth was of wine or danger. I felt dizzy for a second.
His voice was rough and almost broken when he pulled back.
"Don't ever ask me that again," Luca said in a whisper.
But the question stayed with me longer than his kiss: would he first hurt me or protect me?