The Night Drive
730 Words
The rain hadn’t stopped by the time they left the safehouse.
Thunder rolled low across the city as Luca drove through empty streets in complete silence, one hand on the steering wheel while the other rested carefully near the gun beneath his jacket.
Elena sat in the passenger seat watching the lights blur past the window.
Leaving.
Again.
Another safehouse.
Another place she wasn’t allowed to know about until they got there.
The tension in the SUV felt heavy after what happened earlier.
After the panic room.
After the way he looked at her.
After the almost moment neither of them mentioned.
“You should be resting,” Elena finally muttered.
Luca kept his eyes on the road. “I am resting.”
“You were literally shot six hours ago.”
“Graze wound.”
“You keep saying that like it magically makes it less concerning.”
“It wasn’t fatal.”
“That’s a low standard.”
A faint smirk appeared on his face before disappearing again.
Elena hated that she noticed every tiny expression from him now.
The city skyline slowly disappeared behind them as they moved farther from downtown.
More isolated roads.
Fewer lights.
Luca checked the rearview mirror again.
Then again thirty seconds later.
Always watching.
Always waiting for danger.
“You really think someone’s following us?” Elena asked quietly.
“I think someone keeps finding you too easily.”
Her stomach tightened.
“You think there’s a leak.”
“I know there is.”
The certainty in his voice chilled her.
Silence settled between them again.
Elena glanced toward him carefully.
He looked exhausted.
Dark shadows sat beneath his eyes, and despite the calmness in his posture, she could see pain hidden in the tightness of his jaw every time he moved his injured side.
“You should’ve gone to a hospital,” she said softly.
“And tell them what?”
“That you got shot?”
“That tends to involve paperwork.”
Despite herself, Elena laughed quietly.
Luca looked over at her briefly.
And for one dangerous second, the tension in the car changed again.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Something worse.
Something warmer.
Her chest tightened unexpectedly.
“You scared me earlier,” she admitted before she could stop herself.
Luca’s expression shifted slightly.
“When?”
“When the monitors went black.”
He looked back toward the road.
“You were safe.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Elena stared down at her hands in her lap.
“I thought…” Her voice weakened slightly. “I thought maybe you didn’t make it.”
The words hung painfully between them.
Luca’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.
Then loosened.
“You barely know me,” he said quietly.
“That doesn’t mean I wanted you dead.”
“No,” he murmured. “But it means you shouldn’t care that much.”
That hit harder than she expected.
Because maybe he was right.
She barely knew him.
So why did the thought of losing him feel unbearable already?
Rain streaked harder against the windshield.
The storm outside suddenly matched the ache building inside her chest.
The silence between them stretched long enough to hurt.
Then quietly, almost against her own will, Elena asked:
“Why do you care so much?”
Luca’s jaw tightened instantly.
She noticed the exact second his walls went back up.
“Because it’s my job.”
“That’s not true.”
His eyes flicked toward her briefly. “You think you know me already?”
“No,” Elena admitted softly. “I think you’re trying very hard not to let me.”
Something dangerous shifted in his expression.
Not anger.
Something more fragile than that.
The SUV slowed slightly as rain poured harder around them.
“You almost died today,” she whispered.
Luca stayed silent.
Elena looked over at him fully now.
“You got shot protecting me.”
Still nothing.
And somehow his silence hurt worse.
“Why?” she asked quietly.
Luca exhaled slowly through his nose, like he was fighting something inside himself.
Then finally:
“Because if something happens to you…”
His voice almost broke there.
Almost.
Luca looked away first.
And somehow that hurt more than if he’d looked at her.
“I won’t survive it twice.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD