Off Limits

✦CHAPTER 7— Late-Night Messages

Nova POV

The quiet feels heavier than it should.

Campus is half asleep; the dorm lights across the courtyard blink one by one until it’s just me and the hum of the vending machine outside my window.

I told myself I was done—no more Luca, no more chaos—but my phone keeps whispering otherwise.

It buzzes once.

Then again.

Luca: You made it home safe?

I stare at the screen like it’s a trap.

I should ignore him.

Instead I type:

Nova: Barely.

His reply comes fast.

Luca: Don’t joke. Not tonight.

I chew my lip. Not tonight? The words feel like he’s carrying the weight of something I can’t see.

Nova: What happened?

Luca: Elijah’s cleaning up a problem. You shouldn’t worry.

I exhale, half-laugh. “Shouldn’t worry” is always what men say right before you should.

Bri rolls over on her bed, groggy. “Girl, it’s two a.m. Who are you texting?”

“No one.”

“Liar. You only sound like that when it’s someone you shouldn’t.”

She sits up, eyes half-open, curls everywhere. “It’s him, isn’t it? The one with the tattoos and the attitude.”

I don’t answer. I don’t have to.

“Nova,” she sighs, voice soft now, “he’s trouble. You know that, right?”

I nod. “I know.”

But knowing doesn’t make it stop.

Luca POV

Elijah’s report hits my phone like a confession.

Sienna’s men relocated. One still tailing you. Mason asked questions he shouldn’t.

I delete the message before it can breathe too long on the screen.

The warehouse lights hum overhead; I’m sitting on a crate, sleeves rolled to my elbows, the metallic taste of adrenaline still in my mouth. Elijah leans against the wall across from me, calm as ever.

“She texted you,” he says.

“She got home.”

He raises an eyebrow. “That’s not what I asked.”

I ignore it. “Mason’s getting curious again.”

“He’s not just curious,” Elijah says. “He’s angry. You humiliated him in front of half the family when you stole his girl—”

“I didn’t steal anyone.”

He lets out a low laugh. “Then explain the way you look when her name shows up on your phone.”

I don’t bother trying. He already knows.

Elijah pushes off the wall. “Look, I don’t care who you screw. But Sienna’s sniffing around and Mason’s reckless. That combination gets people buried. Maybe tell your college girl to stay invisible for a while.”

“Her name’s Nova,” I say.

“Yeah,” he answers. “And she’s a light you can’t afford to follow.”

He leaves me with that, disappearing into the night like the ghost he’s always been.

Nova POV

By morning, the world pretends nothing happened.

Classes, coffee, Bri’s playlist blasting while she gets dressed.

But I keep checking the clock, waiting for a message that doesn’t come.

When it finally does, it’s not from him.

Mason: Can we talk?

My heart stutters. I almost delete it, but guilt wins.

Nova: About what?

Mason: About us. About my brother.

The words make my stomach drop. He knows. Or maybe he’s just guessing. Either way, it’s bad.

Before I can reply, another text pops up.

Unknown Number: Stay away from Luca Cole if you want to stay alive.

I read it twice. No name, just that sentence.

My fingers shake.

Bri looks over. “What’s wrong?”

“Spam,” I lie.

But the message burns on my screen like truth.

Luca POV

When the phone rings this time, it’s not Elijah—it’s Sienna.

Her voice is sugar and poison. “You’ve been busy.”

“I’ve been working,” I say.

“Working? That what you call driving strange girls around in the rain?”

I close my eyes. She’s seen something. “You’re having me followed now?”

“I’m protecting what’s mine.” A pause. “Tell me, Luca. Does she know who you really are?”

The line crackles. For a second I picture her standing in one of her father’s penthouses, wine glass in hand, smiling like a queen ready to cut off heads.

“I’ll handle it,” I say.

“Oh, I’m sure you will. But remember—your father hates scandals. Especially the kind that bleed.”

She hangs up.

I grip the phone until my knuckles whiten. Somewhere between guilt and rage, I text Nova again.

Luca: Don’t answer any calls you don’t know. Promise me.

Nova: Why?

Luca: Because the people in my world play games you can’t win.

Her typing bubble appears, disappears.

Then:

Nova: I’m not afraid of you.

Luca: You should be.

Nova POV

The warning should scare me. It just makes my pulse race.

I stare out the dorm window, the city lights pulsing below, and realize that no matter how far I run, he’s already under my skin.

“He’s trouble,” Bri said.

She was right.

And I’m already in too deep to stop.