Lightning
903 Words
Elena couldn’t sleep.
Which honestly wasn’t surprising anymore.
The storm outside had only gotten worse through the night. Rain slammed against the windows while thunder shook the lake house hard enough to rattle the glass.
But that wasn’t why she was awake.
Luca was.
She could hear him moving around downstairs.
Slow footsteps.
Cabinet doors opening quietly.
The soft creak of floorboards.
Always awake.
Always watching.
Elena stared at the ceiling of the bedroom for another five minutes before finally giving up.
She climbed out of bed, pulling the oversized hoodie tighter around herself before stepping into the hallway.
The house was dark except for the warm glow from the fireplace downstairs.
Luca sat alone on the couch facing the security monitors, one elbow resting against his knee while he scrolled through camera feeds.
Even exhausted, he looked alert.
Dangerously alert.
“You know normal people sleep at night, right?” Elena asked softly from the stairs.
Luca looked over immediately.
Every time.
Like his body reacted to her voice before his brain could.
“You should be asleep,” he said.
“You say that a lot for someone who clearly doesn’t follow his own advice.”
He glanced back toward the monitors. “Someone has to stay awake.”
Elena slowly walked farther into the room.
“You really think they’ll find us here?”
“No.”
That surprised her.
“You sound sure.”
“I am.”
“Then why are you still watching the cameras?”
Luca was quiet for a moment.
Then finally:
“Because bad things happen when I stop paying attention.”
The heaviness in his voice made her chest tighten.
There it was again.
That invisible wound he never talked about.
The one far worse than the bullet graze.
Elena sat carefully on the opposite end of the couch.
“You blame yourself for something,” she said quietly.
Luca didn’t answer.
Which was answer enough.
Thunder cracked violently overhead.
A second later, the lights flickered.
Then everything went dark.
The security monitors shut off instantly.
The fireplace dimmed.
And suddenly the only sound in the room was rain and thunder.
Elena froze.
Not because of the dark.
Because of what came after it.
Silence.
Complete silence from Luca.
“Luca?”
No answer.
Her pulse immediately spiked.
Then lightning flashed outside the windows for half a second.
And she saw him standing.
Gun already in his hand.
Watching the front door.
Every muscle in his body tense.
“Elena,” he said quietly into the darkness, “come here.”
No hesitation this time.
She moved immediately.
Another flash of lightning illuminated the room as she crossed toward him.
Close enough now that she could hear his breathing.
Controlled.
Steady.
But not calm.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered.
“Backup generator should’ve kicked in already.”
Thunder shook the house again.
Then—
A loud noise echoed somewhere outside.
Elena grabbed Luca’s arm instantly.
His body tensed beneath her touch.
Not rejecting it.
Reacting to it.
Another sound.
Closer this time.
Footsteps on the porch.
Her heart nearly stopped.
Luca slowly moved in front of her automatically.
Shielding her with his body.
The gesture was so instinctive it almost hurt to watch.
“Elena,” he murmured without looking at her, “if I tell you to run—”
“No.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“You were going to tell me to leave you.”
Another flash of lightning filled the room.
And for one brief second, Luca looked at her.
Really looked at her.
Like something about those words affected him more than it should have.
Then the front doorknob moved.
Elena stopped breathing.
Luca raised the gun instantly.
The door slowly opened—
—and a golden retriever walked into the house soaking wet.
Silence.
The dog wagged its tail once.
Elena stared.
Luca stared.
Then Elena burst into laughter so suddenly she nearly doubled over.
“Oh my God.”
Luca lowered the gun slowly, looking deeply unimpressed.
“A dog?”
“A terrifying criminal mastermind apparently.”
The dog trotted farther inside happily.
Lightning flashed again as Elena laughed harder, adrenaline finally crashing out of her system.
Luca watched her quietly.
And something in his expression softened.
“You laugh differently when you’re scared,” he said suddenly.
Elena looked up. “What?”
“It’s louder.”
“That’s because I almost died from emotional trauma.”
A small smile pulled at his mouth again.
There it was.
That rare smile she was starting to crave seeing.
The realization hit her instantly.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Thunder cracked again, louder this time.
Without thinking, Elena flinched closer to him.
Her shoulder brushed his chest.
Both of them froze.
Too close.
Luca looked down at her slowly.
Elena suddenly became painfully aware of everything:
his hand near her waist
the warmth radiating off him
how easily he could pull her closer
how badly she wanted him to
The storm outside disappeared completely.
There was only him.
Only this moment.
Only the way his eyes dropped briefly toward her lips before immediately lifting again.
Restraint.
God, the restraint was worse than if he kissed her.
“Elena,” he said quietly.
A warning.
A plea.
She wasn’t sure which one scared her more.
- Writer
