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But as I continued to wait, there was nothing for me to fight back against.
I’m not broken,I repeated over and over, and each time that fearful child faded, and determination broke through.
And Lucca never struck. Lucca kept his promise.
Instead, he watched me carefully. His grim demeanor present but controlled. Lucca didn’t say a word, and I wished he would say something. React, even if it meant I would fight back because his silence was worse.
His silence was punishing.
Lucca took the pencils from my hands, placed his powerful hand on my lower back, and pushed my body alongside his to the entrance of the store. When the blond shaggy-haired boy came into view, Lucca removed his hand from me, and I yearned for its return. It was sickening to still want his touch, as if it was meant to comfort me, but it was nothing more than to claim his power over me.
The guy behind the counter raised his head as he noticed Lucca’s frame before him. Without a word, Lucca threw a bill over his sketch with the same hand that held the pencils. The boy’s steel-blue eyes shot wide open when Lucca began walking away.
“Sir, your change!”
He wasn’t acknowledged. Lucca only had me in mind as he stepped by my side and pulled me close.
Sergio and Rio waited outside, and while one walked ahead of us in the distance, the other remained close behind us
“Lucca,” I managed to utter once we were alone inside his car.
“Katia.”
How did he sound so, so unemotional?
I needed to fix this.
“I…I’m sorry.”
I felt emotionally drained. Battered, as the memory of my father and rooted feelings had so easily emerged. But mostly, I felt rage. Of how he could get everything I’d worked so hard to master out in the open in a matter of seconds. How the sliver of the treaty had been broken swiftly after weeks of mending. Long weeks of mind games and risks.
All that time lost over pencils and lines!
The car’s engine spurted to life, taking away the silence and filling the cabin in its soft purr. His phone chirped, and after a quick glance, he placed it back on the console. I dared a glance, and while his voice sounded controlled, Lucca’s rigid muscles and strong jaw showed his temper.
I should have let it go and allowed him to have his moment. I could work my way to mend my disrespect another time. But he felt so distant, and I yearned to regain the close moments we had had since last night. How we’d started the day and spoke as civil humans. As strangers rather than enemies.
But reasoning wasn’t my ally, and my spirit had become my foe as his hand reached for the gear. My hand shot out to stop him from shifting. Surprised by my own reaction, I clenched on to his wrist. A terrible move as it now demanded attention with its controlling grip.
My eyes snapped up and his gaze cracked with rage at mine. Finally, a reaction I understood, anger. It was better than his silence, or so I had thought because quickly his hand forcefully removed mine and held my jaw tightly.
I didn’t back down. I took his uncontrolled grasp and ire to manipulate the situation. My mind had to catch up fast because his chest now rose with pent-up frustration. It was intimidating to see his eyes darken with such hatred aimed at me, to see his features contouring into the man I hadn’t yet met. The boss of Miami.
This was the only chance I had to exploit his reaction.
“Can’t you see I’m desperately seeking peace?” My eyes pleaded.
“All I see is how you’ve forgotten who I am.” He seethed, seeing right through my attempt.
My mouth had grown sore from his hold, and I tried once again, but this time I held his forearm, hoping for a break.
“I said I’m sorry.”
“Enough said, Katia. You’ve said and done enough.” Lucca’s low and dangerous timbre warned.
Fine. I was done with the game. Lucca believed I’d forgotten who he was, and even while it was far from the truth, I couldn’t change his mind. It was done. Lucca would punish as he saw fit.
“Then let go of me,” I said through my teeth.
