Chapter four: A Dangerous curiosity
1143 Words
The ride home was silent. Too silent.
Elena kept her eyes fixed on the window, the city lights blurring into streaks as Adrian’s car slid through the night. Her reflection in the glass looked foreign—pale cheeks, wide eyes, lips pressed tight as if to keep the fear from spilling out.
She wanted to ask questions. She wanted to demand answers. But every time her gaze flicked toward him, the words dissolved on her tongue.
Adrian sat beside her, relaxed in his seat as though nothing about tonight was unusual. One hand rested casually against the steering wheel, his expression unreadable in the dim glow of the dashboard. He wasn’t looking at her, but she felt him anyway. The weight of him. The awareness of his presence filling every inch of space.
Finally, she broke. “Why me?”
His eyes shifted from the road just long enough to pin her with that gaze—sharp, dark, unreadable. “Because you don’t belong here.”
“That’s not an answer.” Her voice trembled, but she forced herself to meet his eyes. “You said I was marked. That men worse than you will come for me. Why? What do I have to do with any of this?”
Adrian’s jaw ticked. For a moment, silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating. Then he said quietly, “Nothing. You did nothing. That’s the problem.”
Her brows knitted. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re… untouched.” His voice dropped lower, almost to himself. “Innocent. And in a place like La Notte, that kind of light doesn’t go unnoticed. It shines. It draws.”
Elena’s stomach turned. She hated the way his words made her feel—exposed, vulnerable, like a moth pinned under glass. But worse than that, some traitorous part of her thrilled at the intensity in his tone.
She looked away, hugging his coat tighter around her. The warmth of it smelled faintly of him—expensive cologne, smoke, and something darker she couldn’t name. It unsettled her, how comforting it felt.
The car pulled to a stop in front of her apartment building. Adrian killed the engine but didn’t move. Neither did she. The silence stretched until Elena’s nerves threatened to snap.
“Thank you,” she whispered finally, reaching for the door handle.
His hand shot out, gripping her wrist—not hard, but firm enough that she froze.
“Be careful,” he said, his voice velvet over steel. “From now on, don’t walk alone at night. Don’t let strangers close. And if anyone asks…” His eyes locked onto hers. “You belong to me.”
Her breath hitched.
“I don’t belong to you,” she whispered back. The defiance in her voice surprised even her.
Something flickered in his expression. Interest. Amusement. Heat. He leaned closer, his lips hovering near her ear.
“You can keep saying that, Elena. But your eyes tell me otherwise.”
Her pulse roared in her ears. She yanked her wrist free and pushed out of the car, her legs unsteady as she stumbled toward her building. She didn’t dare look back until she was safely inside the lobby, chest heaving, hands shaking.
Through the glass doors, she saw him still sitting there, shadowed and still, watching. Always watching.
---
Elena barely slept that night. Her dreams were restless, haunted by whispers in smoky halls, by dark eyes that seemed to strip her bare. Every creak of her apartment felt like footsteps. Every shadow on the wall made her heart leap.
By morning, exhaustion clung to her like a second skin. She forced herself to go through the motions—coffee, a shower, the subway to campus—but her mind was elsewhere. Always circling back to him.
Adrian.
She hated herself for it.
At the library, her friend Mia plopped into the chair across from her, arms crossed. “Okay. Talk. Who was that guy last night?”
Elena’s stomach twisted. “Mia—”
“Don’t even try to dodge me. You looked like you’d seen a ghost when you saw him, and then you let me just walk away while you got into his car? Ellie, that’s not you.”
Elena stared down at her hands, the memory of his touch still imprinted on her skin. “I don’t… I don’t know who he is, exactly.”
Mia raised a brow. “But?”
“But he’s dangerous.”
Mia leaned forward. “Dangerous how? Like… drug dealer dangerous? Or serial killer dangerous?”
Elena shot her a look. “That’s not funny.”
“Neither is watching my best friend get pulled into some mafia movie scenario.” Mia’s tone softened, but her eyes were serious. “Ellie, if this guy scares you, you need to stay away from him.”
“I’m trying,” Elena whispered. “But he won’t stay away from me.”
---
That night, the shadows proved her right.
When she left the library alone, she noticed them—two men lingering too long near the exit, their eyes tracking her as she stepped onto the quiet street.
Her stomach dropped. She quickened her pace, clutching her bag tighter, but their footsteps echoed behind her.
“Elena.”
Her name cut through the night like a blade. Not Adrian’s voice. Someone else’s.
Panic surged. She darted down a side street, heart pounding, but they followed, faster now.
Then, a third voice. Smooth. Cold.
“Enough.”
Elena skidded to a stop, breath coming in ragged gasps. Adrian emerged from the shadows like he belonged there, his presence swallowing the alley whole.
The two men stiffened, hesitation flashing across their faces.
“She’s under my protection,” Adrian said, his tone sharp, final. “Touch her, and you answer to me.”
The men exchanged a glance, then slowly backed away, melting into the night.
Elena sagged against the wall, trembling. Relief and fear tangled in her chest, leaving her breathless.
Adrian turned to her, his expression unreadable. For a moment, he just looked at her, his dark gaze burning with something she couldn’t name. Then he stepped closer, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
“You see now?” he murmured. “You can hate me all you want, but staying away from me won’t save you. The moment you stepped into my world, you stopped being invisible. And I don’t let go of what’s mine.”
Elena’s breath caught. She wanted to scream at him, to tell him she wasn’t his. But the words stuck in her throat, choked by the way his nearness made her heart race.
For the first time, she wondered if she was more afraid of the men chasing her… or of how much she wanted the man protecting her.
- Writer
