Chapter 20: Bound by Contract

Luca's words from earlier in the day echoed in Anna's mind, sending chills down her spine. "You're not ready for that answer."

What had he meant? What secret was he hiding? It gnawed at her with an intensity she couldn't shake. She had tried to distract herself, to focus on anything but the cryptic mystery that seemed to surround him, but it was impossible. His presence loomed in every corner of the mansion, and the questions in her mind only grew.

She knew she had to push for answers, but she also knew she couldn't force him into revealing anything. Luca wasn't a man who gave up his secrets easily. And tonight, she felt it—the quiet tension in the air, the weight of something looming just beyond her grasp.

When the call came later that evening, summoning her to his office, her heart skipped a beat. She stood from the couch, nerves flaring as she tried to steady her breath. This time, it was different. She had no idea what to expect when she walked into that room, but something told her that tonight, she would learn something that would change everything.

She walked through the familiar hallway, the heavy thud of her boots the only sound that accompanied her steps. The door to Luca's office was ajar, and she paused for just a moment before entering. He was already sitting behind his desk, his dark gaze lifted to meet hers, his expression unreadable, calculating.

"Sit," he commanded.

There was no room for argument. Anna obeyed, pulling out the chair in front of him and sitting down, her eyes fixed on the folder in his hands.

Without a word, Luca slid the folder across the desk toward her. She didn't hesitate. Her fingers curled around the edges, and she opened it. As soon as her eyes skimmed the first page, her stomach dropped. It was a contract—her contract. But this was different. It wasn't the same agreement she had signed weeks ago.

She looked up at him, the confusion clear in her gaze. "You're extending it?" Her voice barely rose above a whisper, as though afraid that speaking too loudly might shatter the fragile control she still held.

Luca leaned back in his chair, his eyes never leaving hers. "Yes."

The word hung in the air, heavy with implication. Anna's gaze shifted back to the document in her hands. New terms had been added—terms she hadn't agreed to, terms that seemed… more binding.

Her pulse quickened, and she swallowed hard. "Why?" The question felt like it burned her tongue, but she needed to know. She needed to understand what was happening.

Luca didn't answer immediately. He just watched her, his eyes dark and unreadable. Then, he stood, slowly moving around the desk until he was standing right in front of her. She didn't flinch as he neared, but her heart raced. She could feel the heat radiating off his body, could feel the tension in the room like a tangible force pressing down on her chest.

He didn't touch her. Not yet. But his proximity was enough to send her senses into overdrive.

"Things have changed, Anna," he said, his voice low, smooth—almost a whisper.

Her breath caught. "How?" she managed to ask, though her throat felt dry, tight.

Luca's lips quirked in a slight smile, but there was no amusement in it. "You know how."

The words hung between them, laden with something that made Anna's heart race. He was playing with her again, but this time, it felt different. His gaze was intense, predatory. There was something dangerous in his words, something raw and commanding that made her blood run hot.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could form the words, Luca reached down. His fingers brushed under her chin, his touch light but possessive as he tilted her head up to meet his gaze. His touch sent a jolt of electricity through her, and for a moment, all she could do was breathe.

"You're mine," he murmured, his lips so close she could feel his breath on her skin.

The statement was simple, but the weight of it was suffocating. Anna's chest tightened, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Her mind screamed at her to resist, to fight back, to remember who he was—what he was. But the longer she sat in front of him, the more it felt like she was losing herself.

She knew she should say no, should push him away. But the words wouldn't come.

"I'm just a contract to you," she finally managed to say, the question hanging between them.

Luca's smirk deepened, slow and deliberate. "Are you?" he replied, his voice almost a challenge.

She didn't know how to answer. She wasn't sure if she was a contract to him anymore. She wasn't sure what she was to him, or what she had become to him. But as she looked up at him, as his dark eyes bored into hers, she felt the pull again, the magnetism that had been drawing her closer from the very beginning.

"Sign it," Luca's voice was firm, commanding, but there was something in it that made Anna's fingers tremble as she reached for the pen.

She hesitated. This was it. This was the moment when everything would change. She could walk away. She could refuse to sign it, to break free from this suffocating contract, from him. But something inside her—the part that had been awakened by his presence, by his power, by the danger he represented—whispered that she wasn't ready to walk away.

With a shaky breath, Anna picked up the pen.

Her fingers hovered over the paper for a moment, the weight of the decision heavy on her chest. And then, with a quick motion, she signed her name.

The sound of the pen hitting the paper echoed in the silence of the room. As soon as the ink dried, Anna felt it. The finality. The binding.

She had signed herself into his world, into his control.

And in that moment, she realized something terrifying.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to escape anymore.

Luca stood still for a moment, his eyes searching hers as if he could see straight through her. His lips twitched in a smile—half triumph, half something darker.

"You've made your choice," he said quietly. "Now, we both live with it."

As she stood, her heart still pounding in her chest, Anna couldn't shake the feeling that she had just signed more than a contract. She had signed away her freedom, her choices, maybe even her future.

But she couldn't ignore the strange sense of relief that settled over her. There was no turning back now. And as much as she wanted to fight it, as much as she told herself she would escape when the time was right, she had just bound herself to him in a way she didn't fully understand.

And Luca knew it.