chapter 50
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The city didn't sleep that night.
Neither did he.
Luca stood on the rooftop across from her apartment, coat soaked from the rain, glove tight on his right hand.
He had waited.
Watched.
Protected from a distance.
But Liam had touched her.
Threatened her.
Spoken to her like he had a right.
That ended tonight.
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He knew where Liam lived.
He knew how he thought.
He knew the exact hour Liam would walk home from his gym session, alone and self-satisfied.
And Luca was waiting.
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It happened in silence.
The alley behind Liam's apartment complex was empty, lit only by a flickering yellow streetlight.
Liam's footsteps echoed down the pavement. Confident. Careless.
Then—
A shadow moved.
Liam froze. "Who's there?"
No answer.
He took a step back.
And a figure stepped from the dark.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. A single black glove on one hand. The other hand bare, clenched into a fist.
"You're him," Liam said breathlessly. "You're Luca."
Luca didn't speak.
Just stepped forward.
Liam laughed nervously, trying to mask the crack in his voice. "You've been hiding this whole time, and now you think you can scare me?"
Luca's voice was a low growl. "You touched her."
"She needed someone," Liam snapped. "You disappeared. You left her. I was there."
"You don't touch her," Luca said, stepping closer. "You don't follow her. You don't speak to her again."
Liam's bravado cracked. "She doesn't want you. You're just a shadow. A ghost."
Luca didn't blink.
He grabbed Liam by the collar and slammed him back against the wall—hard.
Liam choked on his breath.
"You ever go near her again," Luca said, voice like thunder wrapped in ice, "I'll bury you so deep the rats won't find your bones."
Liam trembled.
And then—Luca let go.
Just like that.
No punch.
No blood.
Only the fear he left behind.
"I'm not hiding anymore," Luca said quietly.
Then he turned and vanished into the night.
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Back in her apartment, Elena jolted upright.
A dream—no, a feeling.
Something in her chest burned. A thread pulling tight between her ribs.
She ran to the window and looked out.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
But still…
Her heart beat louder.
Because for the first time in weeks, she knew.
He was here.
Not just watching.
Back.
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