TWO
991 Words
The house was dark when Luciana unlocked the front door and stepped inside. The silence felt suffocating, the air thick with an unspoken tension that never seemed to leave these walls. She barely made it three steps before the living room light flickered on, revealing a shadowy figure slouched in an armchair.
Her father.
His eyes, bloodshot and glassy, lifted to meet hers, and her stomach twisted. The half-empty bottle of whiskey on the table told her everything she needed to know. He had been waiting.
“You’re late,” he slurred, his voice heavy with alcohol and something more dangerous—anger.
Luciana stiffened. “I was out.”
His lips curled in a sneer. “Out? Looking like that?” He gestured vaguely at the bruises littering her skin, the torn fabric of her shirt. “Whoring around with those Costa bastards?”
Her jaw clenched, but she didn’t react. She had learned a long time ago that pushing back only made it worse.
He rose unsteadily to his feet, stumbling toward her. The stench of liquor burned her nose as he grabbed her arm, his grip tightening like a vice. “You think you can come and go as you please? You think you’re better than this family?”
luciana swallowed back the rising panic, forcing herself to stay still. She had survived worse. She could survive this.
“I don’t think anything,” she said quietly. “I just want to go to bed.”
His grip tightened for a second longer before he shoved her away, nearly knocking her off balance. “Get out of my sight.”
She didn’t hesitate. She turned and walked straight to her room, locking the door behind her. Her hands shook as she exhaled, pressing her forehead against the cool wood.
Tonight had been a nightmare. But it wasn’t over.
Because she knew her father’s rage wouldn’t end with just words.
And she knew the Costa family wasn’t done with her, either.
__________________________
"You look like s**t" Adrian exclaimed, as Luciana slid into his car the next day.
she grinned, flipping him off " Well I'm not the one that told those assholes to come after us".
Adrian chuckled, as he put the car in gear and sped down the road. "Dad wants to see you by the way, he's been bitchy since last night, seems like you got to him".
Fuck. Dante wanted to.see her. she was sure she'd f****d up real bad because he'd never spoken to her one on one, and she didn't think anyone had spoken to him the way she had yesterday.
He was definitely going to kill her.
Adrian pulled into the driveway soon enough, and the car came to a screeching halt. Luciana reached into the back seat to grab her bag causing her sleev to ride up a bit.
"Lucy!" Adrian called, grabbing her hand and pulling her sleeve up. there was a bruise forming where her father had grabbed her the night before. " you said he'd stopped hitting you".
"He has, he was just drunk last night" She lied through her teeth.
Adrian sighed " If this happens again, I'll kill him"
Luciana nodded and stepped out. She was barely halfway up the driveway when she sensed another presence. The moment she turned, she found herself face to face with Dante Costa.
He leaned against the black SUV parked at the bottom of the marble stairs, his arms folded over his chest, watching her with that same unreadable intensity he always carried.
Her pulse kicked up, but she kept her posture steady. “Are you serious?"
Dante pushed off the car, taking slow, measured steps toward her. “Am not seriosu apparently, is everything a joke to you"
Luciana scoffed.
“Your life is in danger ,” he said simply, stopping just inches from her. “Whoever attacked you tonight didn’t do it on a whim. They were targeting Adrian—but you got caught in the crossfire. Next time, they won’t be so generous.”
She met his gaze head-on. “I don’t need your protection.”
Dante studied her for a moment before smirking. “You’re proud. Reckless. And entirely too naive if you think you can handle this on your own.”
Luciana clenched her fists, her frustration bubbling over. “You think you know me?”
“I know enough,” Dante said smoothly. “I know that you’re stubborn enough to get yourself killed. And I know that Adrian won’t forgive me if I let that happen.”
She let out a bitter laugh. “So this isn’t about me. It’s about Adrian.”
“It’s about keeping order,” Dante corrected, his voice as calm as ever. “And you, Miss Romano, are a disruption.”
Luciana’s chest tightened. She hated the way he made her feel—like a child, like a pawn in some larger game she wasn’t privy to. But she refused to cower.
“Well, I guess you have a problem then,” she said, tilting her chin up defiantly.
Dante’s smirk didn’t fade. Instead, he took another step closer, lowering his voice. “Yes, but unlike you, I know how to solve my problems.”
A shiver ran down her spine, but she forced herself to hold his gaze.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Dante leaned in just slightly, enough that his presence was almost suffocating. “You should be.”
Luciana swallowed hard. The air between them was thick with something dangerous, something unspoken. But she refused to be the one to back down. "if you get any inkling you're in danger, you report to me immediately"
Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked awar, leaving Dante standing alone.
Her world had just changed. She wasn’t sure how yet—but she just knew and Dante Costa wasn't making it any easier.
- Writer
