(Luca’s POV)
I watched her retreat up the stairs, the sound of her footsteps echoing in the hallway, each step another subtle rebellion, yet each step I knew would only make her fall deeper into the web I’d spun for her.
I had seen it in her eyes—the anger, the hatred—but beneath it, there was something else, something that made my blood burn. Desire. That subtle flicker of need that she could not deny, no matter how hard she tried to fight it.
She hated me. I saw it in the way she looked at me, like I was the embodiment of everything she despised. But I knew better than anyone—hatred was a mask, and under it, there was always something far darker, something far more dangerous.
I had tasted that on her lips earlier, and it only made me want more.
The silence in the house was suffocati
