tina'

ilding just beyond view, and I couldn't get rid of the sense that something horrible was just around the bend. After the e

t admit it, I had seen the flutter of somethin

had long since faded, leaving only the weight of all I had been running from for years. My father's

, if I could

e merely stared at each other for a minute, the quiet between us dense and weighty. Like we were on the

is voice quiet and under control, but I

ack to the window, although since m

is presence hanging there. "

hest. I wanted no more of this talk. I wanted not to face the truth hoverin

sharp as a knife slicing across the distance betwee

night?"? I started

only starting. He wants you and will stop at nothing to get you. Vale

shed myself to meet his eyes. And wha

even remorseful, flicker in his eyes, but it vanished as

for," he remarked. This has nothing

ing for someone else not caring. Last night, Luca, I watched your attitu

hair between his hands. Valentina, I have spent my whole

. "Am I just another piece in your game? Someone

glowed with wrath. "You're not a pawn," he continued, his voice low

chest. I had anticipated control, manipulation, perhaps possibly

t the words out the door opened and Matt

oblem," Matteo stat

ntion sharpening like a predator gett

on one Another Before they reach th

t, and panic attacked me. "

primed." Valentina-" His eyes stern, he turned to face

shaking voice. "I cannot

me," Luca said, his voice s

ation and terror spilling over. "I'm not goi

ark with something I couldn't quite identify. Then Matteo tu

t I intended. Not one bit of it was. I couldn't, however, ignore the

no notion of what I was doing or how I would survive on this hostile

hall. Luca was at the far end ordering, and his demeanor was as frigid and uncompromising as a

y chest, I went over t

a clenched jaw. Valentina

firm even though I was

comprehensible. Then, at last, he breathed; th

Keep near me. And stay a

I was no longer only a spectator in Luca's universe.

he distance drew me back to the present. Watching Luca arm himself, the we

hing; his face was softer than I had ever

e air was clearly tense, the sense of ap

t happened si

a returned fire, the loud sound of gunshots filling the air. My pulse thum

ies with a spine-tingling effect. Still, his gaze never left me even as the violence

tuck in my mouth as I watched in shocked silence, time seemed to bl

d yet triumphant when everything settled. His eye

urmured, his voice

to his eyes. We were no more two persons tossed together by circumstance. Now tied b

low one to linger o

ing to stop,"

igid, his mouth cl

imprisoned us both in this life. One could not flee f

ow we were in

and I stood there surrounded by fight debris. A woman, her face

ured, her tone cutting.

wed to identify her. Still, he said n

th a thumping he

d to mine, a wick

s my m