Chapter 4 You're lying to me,even now

SERA

The knock still echoed through her bones.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Sera," he said again, calm as stone. "We need to talk."

Her fingers tightened around the handle of her mug. The tea had long gone cold. Just like her peace of mind.She got up slowly, quietly, feet bare on the hardwood. She didn't make a sound as she approached the door because maybe, if she didn't breathe, she could think straight.But her mind was already racing.

What did he know?

What did he want?

And how the hell had he gotten into her building?

"Sera." His voice was closer now. "Open the door, or I will."

There was no anger in his tone. No urgency. Just that controlled threat that made her stomach twist and heat in the same breath.She opened the door.And there he was.

Luca Valentini.

Cold rain clinging to his black coat, broad shoulders filling the doorframe like the devil had decided to wear tailored Italian wool and come collect.His eyes scanned her. Bare feet, damp hair, hoodie zipped to her chin.

She crossed her arms, keeping her expression flat. "You came to kill me?"

"No," he said. "If I did, I wouldn't have knocked."

That voice. Smooth as glass. And just as dangerous when it shattered.She stepped back, wordlessly.He entered.And her entire apartment suddenly felt ten sizes too small.He didn't sit. Didn't take off his coat. Just stood in the middle of her living room like a wolf with no cage left to pretend he belonged in.

Sera kept her distance. "What do you want?"

"You went to your brother's place today."

A statement. Not a question.

Her blood turned to ice.

"You followed me?"

Luca's gaze didn't waver. "I didn't need to."

She swallowed hard, refusing to break the stare. "I had every right to be there."

"You weren't alone."

That made her heart stutter.

He took a step toward her.

"You had a warning. A message. I want to know who sent it."

"I don't know."

"You're lying to me, even now." Another step.

She held her ground. "Wouldn't be the first time, would it?"

Luca's jaw tensed, but he said nothing.The air between them stretched tight. Too tight. Like if either of them moved, something would snap.

"You're in something, Sera," he said quietly. "Deeper than you understand. That safe? Matteo wasn't protecting himself-he was hiding something. Something people would kill for."

"They already did," she snapped. "They killed him."

He looked at her for a long, silent moment.

And then: "I didn't kill your brother."

"But you know who did."

He didn't deny it.

Her heart thundered.Luca moved again, slow and steady, until he was close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.

His voice dropped lower. "You think I came here just to scare you?"

"I think you came here because you don't know if you should protect me or end me."

His breath caught. Just for a beat. Just enough.

And that was her answer.Sera stepped closer.She was either brave or stupid, maybe both, but something in her wanted to see how far she could push this monster in a suit.

"I know what you are, Luca," she whispered. "But do you know what I am?"

His eyes flickered.And then he did something she didn't expect.He reached up-slow, deliberate-and brushed a piece of wet hair from her cheek.The touch was so soft it burned.

"I know exactly what you are," he murmured.

Then his fingers tightened, just a little, enough to tilt her chin. "You're the fuse, Sera."

And his mouth hovered just above hers.

"You light it... and we both go up in flames."

She should've pulled away.She didn't.She couldn't.But before their lips met, before anything could tip over the edge, he stepped back. Fast. Controlled.Like he'd almost lost something he never gave permission to be touched.She felt the loss like a punch to the chest.

Luca turned toward the door. "If you want to live, you stay away from that safe. And you stop asking questions you won't survive the answers to."

"And if I don't?"

He looked over his shoulder.

Then he smiled.

Cold. Beautiful. Cruel.

"Then I stop knocking next time."And then he was gone.

LUCA

The moment he left her apartment, the cold bit harder.He didn't feel the rain.He felt her.Still in his lungs, in his head, under his goddamn skin.He shouldn't have touched her.Shouldn't have knocked on her door.But when he saw the black SUV pull into Matteo's old lot,when he realized she'd beat him there,he'd nearly turned that building to ash trying to find her.And that text she got?Someone else was in this now.Someone who didn't want her dead but didn't want her alive for long either.He stepped into the waiting car. Niko, his second-in-command, glanced at him from the passenger seat.

"Well?"

"She doesn't have the drive. Yet."

"You sure?"

Luca didn't answer.Because he wasn't sure of anything when it came to Sera Moretti.

Except one thing:

If she found what her brother was hiding before he did-

She'd be dead before she ever had the chance to use it.And he didn't know if he was ready to let that happen.

Even if he should.

End of Chapter Four