Page 1 of Vows of Silence

Chapter 1

The Flame

Luca:You can say no. Iwillprotect you.

I reread the text, biting my lip until I tasted blood. Luca had a habit of making things seem so simple. Truly believing my voice held any weight, as if he wasn’t painfully aware of how much I was ignored around here.

However, I didn’t want to argue over this again. Our easy-going friendship was rapidly developing into feeling like we were a married couple who resented one another. We were bickering over the same thing almost daily, and it was getting tedious to say the least.

So, I decided to try a different tactic rather than engaging with him over the real issue.

Isabelle:You and I both know I have a problem with saying no. Isn’t that why you’re still around?

I added a smiley-faced emoji to the end of my text, as well as a monkey covering its eyes, just so he knew I was joking.

Kind of.

Luca:Isabelle.

Good grief.

One word and my toes were curling. As always.

I could practically hear his growl radiating from the text, the delicious, deep rumble of his voice crawling over my skin, leaving goosebumps everywhere.

It was utter madness the effect this man’s voice had on me. Especially considering we had never even met. I didn’t even know what he looked like, but somehow that didn’t matter. Not for us two. Not for what we shared.

Isabelle:Have I said something wrong?

I replied with a smirk emoji, sinking back down into my bed, hoping he would follow my flirty direction and give me the distraction I so desperately needed.

It wasn’t the direction I had intended on taking this, but if he could jump on board, tell me to strip and then throw a few commands my way? Well, it certainly beat arguing, that’s for sure.

Luca:Sit back up. What part of this conversation felt like an invitation to lay down without permission?

My eyes shot to my laptop, which was still propped up from my earlier doomscrolling session.

Damn him.

Isabelle: I don’t need your permission to lay down, asshole.

Luca: Wrong. But I’ll punish you for that another time. I need you to listen to me. Sit. Up.

Rolling my eyes, I blew a kiss towards the camera and followed his instructions, sitting back up on my bed, crossing my legs and letting my long, dark hair fall over my shoulders and down my chest, partially concealing my face from him.

Luca:Wrong camera. But it was a nice attempt.

I extended my middle finger and put my phone down on the bed, not bothering to reply. He wouldn’t mind. That was thebeauty of Luca—he was always there, never taking more than a few minutes to reply to me, no matter the time. He wasn’t needy or demanding. I could disappear for hours on end, and he never punished me for it or forced an explanation from me. He was just there.

Sometimes it felt like Luca was the only light in my life. The lifeline when I was drowning. But he was the opposite of light—he lingered in the dark. The mysterious, hidden piece of my life. The one thing that belonged to me completely.

He was my respite and calm in the chaos. And yet somehow the cause of all the chaotic feelings I had. He’d appeared out of thin air, like a shadow come to life, and it was like he had always been there.

Wow, Isabelle. Heavy on the symbolism there,I thought to myself mockingly.

But it was true. He came from nowhere and took over everything. And by everything, I do meaneverything.From that very first text message, he let it be known that he could see me at any moment. He never hid the fact that he had cameras here, that he had access to parts of my life he should never have been able to hack his way into. And it hadn’t occurred to me for a second to fear him.

Which was why I had probably told him more than I should have. Let him into the parts of my brain I had no business sharing with anyone else. Especially when…