Chapter Eighteen:I Am Not A Property
1027 Words
Isabella
“Did you ask him here?”
Luca’s voice isn’t loud.
That’s what makes it worse.
The café feels smaller now. The glass walls, the hanging vines, the soft afternoon light everything feels exposed.
Adriano stands beside the table, white shirt stark against Luca’s black silhouette.
Two forces.
Waiting.
For me.
I could lie.
I could say it was coincidence.
I could say Adriano misunderstood.
I could say I was confused.
But I’m suddenly exhausted by pretending I don’t feel what I feel.
“Yes,” I say.
The word lands between us like glass.
Silence.
Luca doesn’t blink.
Adriano doesn’t move.
“I asked him here,” I repeat, steadier now.
Luca’s jaw tightens slightly. Not rage. Not yet.
“Why?” he asks.
That’s the question that matters.
Not accusation.
Not threat.
Why.
I inhale slowly, forcing my pulse to calm.
“Because I wanted to know something.”
Adriano’s gaze sharpens.
Luca’s eyes never leave mine.
“And did you?” Luca asks.
“Yes.”
Another silence.
The kind that rearranges relationships.
Luca steps closer to the table, tall, all black, composed. The fabric of his shirt stretches across his chest as he moves. He doesn’t look like a man who doubts himself.
He looks like a man who is calculating damage.
“Are you dissatisfied?” he asks quietly.
That question slices deeper than jealousy.
Adriano’s presence is heat behind me. Steady. Watching.
I stand slowly.
Both men instinctively straighten.
“I am not dissatisfied,” I say.
“Then what is this?”
“This,” I reply calmly, “is me choosing to understand my own mind before someone else decides it for me.”
Luca’s eyes flash something between anger and surprise.
“You think I decide for you?”
“You assume,” I correct softly.
Adriano exhales almost imperceptibly.
He didn’t expect this either.
“I will not be fought over like territory,” I continue. “And I will not be guarded like an investment.”
Luca steps closer.
Not threatening.
But close enough that I feel his presence fully.
“And what exactly are you?” he asks.
The air is heavy now.
Adriano remains still but I feel his restraint like a live wire.
“I am not property,” I say evenly. “Not yours. Not his.”
Luca’s expression shifts.
Not anger.
Something more complicated.
He turns slightly toward Adriano.
“Did you plan this?”
Adriano answers calmly, “No.”
Truth.
For once.
Luca studies him.
Then me.
Then the space between us.
And I realize something important.
They are both waiting to see if I will fold.
I won’t.
“I wanted to know,” I say, looking at Luca now, “if I chose you because you were safe… or because you were right.”
That hits.
Luca’s composure cracks just slightly.
“And?” he asks.
My voice softens but it doesn’t weaken.
“I’m still deciding.”
The café goes silent around us.
Adriano’s fingers flex at his sides.
Luca steps back.
Just one step.
Which feels bigger than any shout.
Adriano
She just did something neither of us expected.
She didn’t defend him.
She didn’t defend me.
She defended herself.
And that is infinitely more dangerous.
Luca studies her like she’s become something unfamiliar.
Good.
Let him feel that.
“I won’t compete for you,” Luca says quietly.
She meets his eyes.
“I’m not asking you to.”
White against black.
But now she stands in the center.
And we’re orbiting her.
I feel something shift inside me not just desire.
Respect.
She isn’t weak.
She isn’t confused.
She’s aware.
And awareness is power.
“Then what do you want?” Luca asks her.
She doesn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she turns to me.
Her gaze is steady.
“You,” she says carefully, “asked if I would have chosen you.”
My pulse tightens.
“Yes.”
She steps closer.
Not touching.
Just close enough to blur the lines.
“I don’t know,” she says honestly. “Because you didn’t give me the chance to.”
That lands.
Not accusation.
Fact.
Luca’s expression darkens slightly.
“What does that mean?” he asks.
“It means,” she replies calmly, “that you both decided the rules before I did.”
Silence again.
She looks between us.
“I will not sneak,” she continues. “If I speak to him, it will not be behind your back. And if I stay with you, it will not be because I was cornered.”
Cornered.
Interesting choice of word.
Luca’s eyes flicker briefly.
He understands.
“I don’t corner you,” he says.
“No,” she replies softly. “You secure me.”
That’s not an insult.
But it isn’t surrender either.
She picks up her bag.
And just like that she ends it.
“I’m leaving,” she says.
Neither of us move.
Neither of us stop her.
She walks past Luca first.
Then past me.
And the scent of her lingers in the space she leaves behind.
The door closes softly.
And for the first time
It’s just the two of us.
Luca
I don’t look at Adriano immediately.
I stare at the door.
“She’s different with you,” I say finally.
He doesn’t deny it.
“She’s different with herself,” he replies.
That irritates me more than jealousy.
I turn to face him fully.
“You think this is a game?”
“No.”
He adjusts his white cuff slowly.
“I think it’s a decision.”
“And you expect her to choose you?”
He meets my gaze.
“I expect her to choose freely.”
That confidence is either arrogance…
Or certainty.
I step closer.
Not threatening.
Just close enough.
“If she’s hurt,” I say quietly, “this ends differently.”
His eyes harden slightly.
“I know.”
We stand there black and white neither yielding.
But the balance has shifted.
Because she is no longer standing between us.
She’s walking ahead.
And now we’re the ones chasing.
- Writer
