The car ride back was quiet.
But it was not silence.
It was managed silence…
Elize had learned that difference quickly in Luca’s world.
Silence here was not absence;
It was control.
Outside the window, the city moved in streaks of light and shadow. Buildings passed like stacked layers of glass and steel, reflections bending across the tinted window.
Elize watched it carefully.
Not because she was distracted.
Because she was thinking.
Luca sat beside her without speaking. His posture remained unchanged from the moment they entered the vehicle. Controlled. Still. Present without effort.
But occasionally—
His eyes shifted toward her.
Not long enough to be obvious.
But long enough to be intentional.
“You handled Julian well,” he said eventually.
“I didn’t handle him,” Elize rep
