Chapter 17 - The Aftermath
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The ride back to the penthouse was silent, but it wasn't the heavy, suffocating silence of fear. It was the exhausted, hollow quiet of survivors after a war.
When the private elevator doors opened into the living room, I practically collapsed onto the plush velvet sofa. The adrenaline had finally left my body, leaving me shivering and utterly drained.
Luca took off his soaked trench coat and threw his heavy Kevlar vest onto a chair. Underneath, his white dress shirt was torn near the shoulder, a slow trickle of blood staining the fabric.
“You’re hurt,” I gasped, trying to stand back up.
“It’s just a graze,” Luca dismissed, walking over to the bar to pour two glasses of whiskey. “A ricochet off the shipping container. It looks worse than it is.”
“Sit down,” I ordered, pointing to the armchair next to the sofa.
Luca paused, a faint, amused smile touching his lips at my authoritative tone. He didn't argue. He sat down, obediently unbuttoning his shirt and letting it slip off his broad shoulders, revealing the angry, bleeding graze on his upper arm.
I retrieved the first-aid kit from the bathroom and returned, sitting on the edge of his chair.
As I carefully cleaned the wound with antiseptic, my hands trembled slightly. The reality of the night was crashing down on me. I was a waitress from a greasy diner, currently stitching up a mafia boss who had just orchestrated a shootout to protect me.
“Why are you crying, Ava?” Luca asked softly, reaching up with his good arm to gently wipe a tear from my cheek.
“I’m just… overwhelmed,” I whispered, tying off the bandage. “My whole life has been flipped upside down in forty-eight hours. Jake is gone. But now… I’m a part of this world. Your world.”
I looked up into his dark, intense eyes, expecting him to pull away or tell me it was too dangerous.
Instead, Luca cupped my face with both hands, his thumbs gently stroking my cheekbones.
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“You are not a part of my world, Ava,” Luca murmured fiercely. “You are my entire world. The violence, the syndicate, the shadows… that is my burden to carry. Your only job is to let me protect you and Emma.”
He leaned in, capturing my lips in a slow, deep, devastatingly tender kiss. And for the first time in years, I finally felt safe.
