The Truth
1459 Words
CHAPTER FOUR
Juliette's POV
The Kiss That Shouldn't Have Happened
Luca's grip on my waist didn't loosen. If anything, it tightened.
My pulse thundered, every nerve in my body screaming at me to move-to put distance between us before I did something reckless.
Before I did something I couldn't take back.
But I didn't move.
Neither did he.
The room felt smaller, the air too thick, laced with something I shouldn't have wanted. But I did.
Luca's lips hovered near my jaw, close enough that I could feel his breath-warm, steady, dangerous.
I shouldn't have let this happen.
I shouldn't have let him get this close.
But then his fingers tilted my chin up, and I saw it in his eyes-something dark, something raw, something completely unguarded.
I didn't have time to think.
Because he kissed me.
And I let him.
I should have pulled away. I should have reminded myself that I was here to kill him, not crave him.
But his lips were soft and rough all at once, and his hands were steady as they pulled me closer, as if he'd already decided he wasn't letting me go.
And for the first time in a very long time, I didn't want him to.
Luca deepened the kiss, slow and unforgiving.
Like he was unraveling me on purpose.
I made a sound against his mouth-a betrayal of my own resolve.
His hand slid up my back, fingers pressing into my spine as he took his time, as if he was memorizing every inch of me.
I should have hated it.
I didn't.
I kissed him back-harder, deeper.
And he let me. He welcomed it.
Luca wasn't careful anymore. His control cracked, his body pressing against mine with a heat that sent a shudder through me.
I could feel his heartbeat beneath my palm-steady, strong, real.
He was real.
And that terrified me.
I was losing myself in him. In this.
But then-
A gunshot shattered the moment.
The spell broke.
Luca yanked me off his lap, his arm wrapping around my waist as he pushed me behind him, his gun already in his hand.
The doors to his study burst open.
Matteo-his second-in-command-stormed in, gun raised, his eyes dark and furious.
And locked directly on me.
"I knew it," Matteo growled.
My blood ran ice cold.
Luca's grip on his gun didn't falter. "Put it down, Matteo."
"She's playing you," Matteo spat. His gun didn't waver. "I don't know how, but I know she is."
Luca didn't move. Didn't react. Didn't look at me.
But I saw it. I saw the doubt.
He was starting to wonder if Matteo was right.
And just like that, the game changed.
Luca's POV
Trust or betrayal
Matteo's gun was still pointed at Juliette.
I should have told him to shoot.
I should have questioned why a woman I barely knew had crawled under my skin, why I had let my guard down long enough to taste her, to crave her.
Instead, I stood between her and the bullet.
Matteo's jaw tensed. "Move, Luca."
"No."
His grip on the gun tightened. "She's lying to you. I don't know how, but I know she is."
I turned my head slightly, just enough to see her.
Juliette stood frozen, her expression unreadable. Too unreadable.
I had been watching people lie my whole life. Some twitched. Some avoided eye contact. Some smiled to hide the fear.
Juliette? She was still.
Calm. Collected. A storm waiting to break.
She was hiding something.
And the worst part? I already knew it.
My fingers flexed on my gun. "Put it down, Matteo."
"She's dangerous."
"So am I."
Matteo flinched, but he didn't lower his gun. Neither did I.
The silence stretched.
Then Juliette stepped forward.
Bold. Reckless.
She shouldn't have moved.
Matteo reacted instantly, his finger tightening on the trigger.
But before he could fire, I was already there-slamming his arm to the side, forcing the shot to miss.
A bullet buried itself into the bookshelf behind me.
"Enough," I growled.
Matteo's chest heaved, fury bleeding from every inch of him. "Luca, you're blind. You don't even know who she is."
He wasn't wrong.
But I also knew this-I wasn't ready to let her go.
Matteo stepped back, his expression dark. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
He turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Silence.
Juliette was still watching me.
And for the first time since she walked into my life, I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the truth.
But I asked anyway.
"Tell me, Juliette." My voice was quiet. Dangerous. "Who the hell are you?"
She tilted her head slightly, as if considering her options. Deciding whether to lie.
Then, to my complete and utter surprise, she smiled.
Not an innocent smile. Not a nervous one.
A challenge.
"Who do you want me to be, Luca?"
My grip tightened on my gun.
Wrong answer.
I took a step closer, closing the space between us. "That's not how this works."
Juliette didn't move, didn't falter. But I saw something in her eyes-a flicker of something she couldn't hide.
Something I wanted to unravel.
"You have secrets," I murmured.
"So do you."
She wasn't wrong.
But my secrets wouldn't get me killed.
Hers? I wasn't so sure.
I should have walked away.
I should have ordered my men to drag her out of here and finish what Matteo started.
But instead, I reached up-cupping her jaw, tilting her chin just slightly.
Testing her.
She didn't pull away.
Instead, she whispered, "Are you going to kiss me again, Luca?"
I should have. I wanted to.
But I needed something else first.
"Tell me the truth." My thumb brushed her lower lip, just enough to make her breath hitch. Just enough to make her slip.
But instead of breaking-she laughed.
Low. Amused. Unfazed.
And for the first time in my life, I didn't know if I was falling for a woman who would save me-or destroy me.
Maybe both.
Juliette's POV
Luca still had his hand on my jaw, his thumb tracing a slow, deliberate path along my lip.
It was a dangerous move.
Not because he was touching me-but because I wanted him to.
Because the moment his fingers brushed my skin, the moment I felt his heat, I forgot why I was here.
To kill him.
Not to crave him.
But he wasn't looking at me like a man who had just been played. He was looking at me like a man who didn't know whether to kiss me or kill me.
And I had to admit-I liked keeping him guessing.
Luca's grip tightened just slightly, a flicker of frustration in his gaze. Good. Let him be frustrated. Let him feel the same pull I did, the same confusion.
The longer I could keep him off balance, the longer I stayed alive.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Juliette," he murmured.
I smiled, slow and sweet. "So are you, Luca."
His eyes darkened. "Are you working with them?"
He meant the rival mafia. The ones who had been trying to take him out for months.
The ones who had hired me to do it.
I tilted my head. "If I was, would I still be here?"
Luca studied me for a long moment. His hand slid lower, not quite letting go, not quite pulling me closer.
"Maybe."
That single word sent a shiver through me.
Because Luca wasn't a fool.
He was smart. Cunning. Dangerous.
And that meant he wasn't letting me go anytime soon.
Good.
I wasn't ready to leave.
Not yet.
Not until I figured out why, despite everything, I didn't want him dead anymore.
And that? That was the real danger.
Luca's POV
Juliette was lying.
I could feel it.
She wasn't panicking. She wasn't scrambling for an excuse. She was too damn calm.
Too in control.
And yet...
She kissed me back.
She let me touch her, let me pull her close, let me see the fire in her eyes that didn't belong to a woman sent to kill me.
I should have been sure.
I should have put a gun to her temple and demanded the truth.
But the problem?
I wasn't sure I wanted it.
I wasn't sure I could handle what she might say.
Because if Juliette was here to destroy me, then why the hell did she taste like a woman who belonged to me?
The door behind us burst open.
Matteo again.
Luca's voice was sharp. "Unless someone is dead, this better be good."
Matteo didn't flinch. "It's worse than that."
His gaze flickered to Juliette.
And I knew, in that moment-whatever Matteo had found was about her.
And it was going to change everything.
- Writer
