It had been a week since the elevator.
A week of avoiding Luca like my life depended on it... which, in a way, it did. Thankfully, I hadn't needed to try too hard. He'd been away in Spain for business, leaving the office void of his presence, his voice, his piercing gaze. Things had been smooth. At least, as smooth as they could be with Ariana constantly breathing down my neck, reminding me at every turn that Luca would never want me the way he wanted her.
Like I cared. (Okay, maybe I cared. But I'd rather let her think I didn't.)
Now, Tuesday had arrived. And with it, Luca's return.
The thought of facing him again made my stomach twist into a thousand anxious knots. After what had happened, after the way I'd melted under his touch, the way my skin burned when our hands touched, the way he saw how much effect he had on me, how was I supposed to look him in the eye and pretend I wasn't still feeling it?
That I didn't still burn from the way he'd touched me?
Good Lord. Matteo still didn't know.
What the hell would he do if he found out?
And come to think of it… why did he hate Luca so much?
I knew there was history between them, something deeper than just business rivalry, but Matteo never talked about it. And Luca—Luca only ever smirked when I brought up my brother, like he knew some dark, twisted secret I wasn't privy to.
The thought sent an uneasy shiver down my spine.
I pushed it away. It didn't matter.
All I had to do was get through the rest of my internship, keep my head down, and forget about whatever had happened in that damn elevator.
To prove to myself, more than anyone that I was strong enough to resist him.
With that resolve, I stepped out to grab lunch, returned, finished my remaining tasks for the day, and was seconds away from packing up to leave when the phone on my desk rang.
I frowned, reaching for it.
Who the hell was calling this late?
Lifting the receiver to my ear, I barely got out a greeting before a deep, familiar voice cut through the line.
"My office. Now Bella."
I froze.
My pulse skyrocketed.
The phone slipped slightly in my grip as his voice settled over my skin, rich, dark, and filled with something I couldn't quite name.
I swallowed hard, my fingers curling into the edge of my desk. Although he didn't sound demanding but hey...
He was back.
And he wanted to see me.
God help me.
---
The office was quiet. Too quiet.
The kind of silence that stretched, thick and heavy, pressing against my skin like a weighted blanket. The kind that made you hear things that weren't really there—the slight creak of the leather chair, the soft hum of the city outside, the pounding of my own pulse in my ears.
I shouldn't be here. Not now. Not when I was feeling this way. Why did he want to see me anyways?
I told myself that over and over as I stood in Luca Valencia's office, my hands gripping the edge of his sleek glass desk, my breath coming far too fast. The dim lighting cast long shadows across the room, painting everything in shades of temptation. The air smelled like him—dark, rich cologne with a trace of something deeper, something dangerous.
He stood a few feet away, leaning against the windows with his hands tucked into his pockets. His suit jacket was discarded on the back of a chair, leaving him in his white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up, revealing strong forearms. His tie was loosened, the top two buttons undone, giving him that unraveled look that should have made him less intimidating—but it only made things worse. He looked tired, worn out. Tiredly, insanely hot!!
Luca wasn't just a man. He was a force. A storm waiting to be unleashed.
And I was standing right in the eye of it.
"I told you to go home, Bella," he murmured, his voice a low rasp, like he was holding something back. Uhhm, but he told me to come see him at his office. Is that how tired he is that he can't even remember what he told me on phone?
I swallowed hard, my fingers curling into the glass. "I—" My voice cracked, and I had to clear my throat. "I was finishing up some work."
Lie.
I'd stayed because of him. If he asks me too, of course. Gladly!
Because every time I told myself to walk away, I found another excuse to linger. To stay in his orbit just a little longer.
He turned slowly, and when his gaze met mine, something shifted in the air.
The tension had always been there, simmering beneath the surface, lurking in the way his eyes lingered, in the way he spoke to me—low, controlled, like he was testing how much I could handle.
But now? Now, it was a live wire between us, crackling, daring us to touch it.
He took a slow step toward me. I didn't move.
"Finishing up work?" he repeated, tilting his head.
His voice had dropped an octave, and I felt it everywhere. In my chest, in my stomach, in the ache between my thighs.
God help me.
"Yes," I lied again.
His lips twitched, like he knew I was full of shit. Like he knew exactly why I was still here.
Another step.
The space between us was shrinking.
My breathing turned shallow. My body locked up, every nerve screaming for me to step back, to create distance, to be smart.
But I didn't.
I couldn't.
"Matteo warned you about me." His voice was softer now, almost teasing. "Didn't he?"
Yes.
A million times.
Stay away from Luca Valencia. He's not just dangerous—he's deadly.
But the problem was, I didn't feel like prey when I was with Luca.
I felt like I was the one playing with fire.
"And yet," he murmured, stepping closer, "you're still here."
His scent wrapped around me, drowning me, intoxicating me. I sucked in a sharp breath as he reached past me, his fingers brushing against my hand as he grabbed a file from the desk.
The touch was fleeting. Barely there.
But it might as well have been a brand.
I sucked in a breath. "You're standing too close."
He smirked, his lips curving with amusement. "Am I?"
My jaw clenched. "Yes."
He didn't move away. If anything, he leaned in just a fraction more. Just enough that I could feel the heat of his body, the raw power he held so effortlessly.
This was a mistake. A colossal, life-altering mistake.
And yet, I still didn't move. I couldn't find the will power to move.