Unwanted Attention
1064 Words
Alessia Romano had always believed that routine was the safest way to live in a city like Ravenna.
Wake up. Go to work. Come home. Repeat.
Predictability meant control, and control meant safety.
But lately, something felt… different.
She noticed it as she stepped out of Bianchi & Caruso Law Firm that evening. The sky had darkened into a deep purple, the sun sinking behind the skyline while the first streetlights flickered to life.
Her heels tapped against the pavement as she walked toward the subway station, but her mind remained restless.
All day she had felt it—that strange awareness crawling under her skin.
Like someone was watching.
It had happened three times already.
Once when she looked up from her desk and thought she saw someone standing across the street from the office building.
Once when the elevator doors opened and a man quickly turned away.
And again when she left the café near her office during lunch.
Each time, the feeling disappeared before she could confirm it.
Now, as she walked down the crowded sidewalk, that same unease returned.
Alessia subtly glanced over her shoulder.
Nothing.
Just strangers heading home from work.
She exhaled slowly and continued walking.
You’re imagining things.
But a few meters behind her, Luca followed calmly, his expression neutral as he blended into the evening crowd.
His phone buzzed in his hand.
Marco: Status.
Luca typed a quick response.
Leaving work. Heading toward subway.
He slipped the phone back into his pocket and kept walking.
To anyone watching, he was just another man commuting home.
But his attention never left Alessia.
Across the city, Dante Moretti stood on the balcony of his office, overlooking the endless lights of Ravenna.
The cold evening air carried the distant sounds of traffic far below.
Marco stepped beside him, holding his phone.
“She’s heading home now,” Marco reported.
Dante didn’t respond immediately.
Instead, he leaned against the railing, his dark eyes scanning the city.
“Tell me something, Marco,” he said after a moment.
“Yes, boss?”
“What do you think of her?”
Marco raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Honestly?”
Dante gave a small nod.
“She seems… normal,” Marco said. “Quiet life. No connections. Law firm job. She doesn’t look like someone who belongs anywhere near us.”
Dante’s lips curved into the faintest smile.
“That’s exactly why she’s interesting.”
Marco didn’t argue.
After years working for Dante, he had learned that his boss rarely explained his instincts.
But those instincts had built an empire.
Still…
“Are you planning to approach her?” Marco asked carefully.
Dante stared out over the city for a long moment before answering.
“Not yet.”
Meanwhile, Alessia stepped onto the subway platform just as the train arrived.
The doors slid open with a loud hiss, and the crowd pushed inside.
She found a small space near the door and gripped the metal pole as the train lurched forward.
Her mind wandered again.
Back to the man in the café.
The memory of his voice still echoed faintly.
Be careful walking home tonight.
The words felt strange now.
Almost like he had known something she didn’t.
Alessia shook her head.
This is ridiculous.
Yet the feeling of being watched hadn’t disappeared.
At the other end of the subway car, Luca leaned casually against the wall, his eyes occasionally drifting toward her reflection in the window.
He had followed targets before.
Rival gang members. Informants. Politicians who owed the Moretti family favors.
But never someone like this.
She didn’t belong in this world.
And if Luca had learned one thing over the years, it was that Dante rarely focused on anything without a reason.
Twenty minutes later, Alessia exited the train and climbed the stairs to the street.
Night had fully settled over Ravenna now.
The street outside her apartment building was quieter than usual, the traffic lighter.
She crossed the road, pulling her coat tighter against the cool air.
Behind her, Luca slowed his pace.
He watched as she reached the entrance of her building and unlocked the door.
Just before she stepped inside, Alessia hesitated.
That feeling again.
She turned quickly.
The street was nearly empty.
Luca had already turned the corner.
Alessia frowned slightly before shaking it off and heading inside.
From a parked car down the block, another man spoke into a phone.
“She’s inside.”
The call ended.
Later that night, Dante sat alone in his office.
The room was dim except for the soft glow of the desk lamp.
Marco placed a folder in front of him.
“Everything we have on Alessia Romano,” he said.
Dante opened the folder slowly.
Inside were photographs taken earlier that day.
Alessia leaving her apartment.
Alessia walking to work.
Alessia stepping out of the subway.
His gaze lingered on one photo longer than the others.
She looked unaware.
Relaxed.
Like someone living a perfectly ordinary life.
Dante leaned back in his chair.
“Strange,” he murmured.
Marco waited.
“Most people in this city are connected to something,” Dante continued. “Money. Power. Crime. Politics.”
“But not her?” Marco asked.
Dante tapped the photo lightly with his finger.
“No.”
He closed the folder.
“And that makes her… unpredictable.”
Marco crossed his arms.
“Do you want us to keep watching?”
Dante stood and walked toward the window.
Far across the city, Alessia’s apartment building was just another shadow among thousands.
Yet somehow, she had captured his attention.
And when Dante Moretti focused on something…
It rarely ended quietly.
“Yes,” Dante said.
“Keep watching.”
Across the city, Alessia stood in her apartment kitchen, staring out the window with a cup of tea in her hands.
The street below looked calm.
But that strange feeling hadn’t left her.
For the first time since moving here, she double-checked the lock on her door.
Something deep in her instincts whispered that something had changed.
She just didn’t know what.
And far away, in a mansion overlooking the city…
Dante Moretti watched Ravenna like a king surveying his kingdom.
Patient.
Calculating.
Waiting.
Because sooner or later, their paths would cross again.
And when they did—
The quiet life Alessia Romano had carefully built would begin to unravel.
- Writer
