Chapter 12 Escape Route
Anna's POV
But it was.
Because his lips came down on mine.
The kiss was brief, but it stole the air from my lungs all the same. It wasn’t rough.
It intentional, like a line crossed on purpose.
When he pulled back, my lips still tingled, my thoughts scattered.
He leaned in again, this time to my ear.
“I’m a mafia,” he whispered. “I use women for pleasure. That’s all they’ve ever been to me.”
His voice lowered, softened.
“But the first time I saw you… something changed.”
My chest tightened.
“A desire sprang out in me,” he continued quietly, “so intense it shocked me. The desire to love… and be loved by a woman.”
My throat went dry.
Love. The word felt foreign.
I swallowed hard, my mind racing. No one had ever spoken to me like this before. Not gently.
Not as if I was something to cherish rather than endure.
I took a small step back, breaking the contact.
He let me go.
“I…” My voice faltered. I forced it steady. “I don’t know what to say.”
And it was the truth.
I had never experienced love. Never even imagined it. I was still a virgin, someone who had spent her life dodging hands, threats, violence.
The idea of being desired, wanted, by a mafia man of all people felt unreal.
Terrifying and tempting.
“I can’t,” I said softly. “I don’t… feel that way. Not yet.”
His expression didn’t harden. If anything, it softened further.
“As far as I’m concerned,” I added carefully, “you’re still a stranger.”
A flicker passed through his eyes, something dark, something pleased.
“That’s fair,” he said. “I’m patient.”
I hesitated, then voiced the fear that clawed at me. “Xavier wouldn’t permit any relationship between us.”
Lucas chuckled under his breath.
“Xavier won’t be a problem.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“We won’t tell him,” he said simply. “We’ll keep everything a secret.”
My stomach twisted. “And if he finds out?” I asked.
Lucas lifted his finger and placed it gently against my lips, silencing me. “Shh.”
His eyes locked onto mine, intense, unwavering.
“Let me worry about Xavier for the both of us,” he said softly. “All you have to do is let me experience love with you.”
A pause.
“And with time,” he continued, his voice dropping to something colder, “you’ll see that I can even end Xavier’s life if he ever tries to come between us.”
A chill crawled down my spine.
Kill his boss. Because of me.
This was a man who had worked beside Xavier for years.
A man who shared blood, secrets, power with him. And yet he spoke of ending his life as if it were nothing more than removing an obstacle.
All for a girl he’d met in a prison cell barely twenty‑four hours ago.
My heart pounded violently.
This wasn’t romance.
This was obsession wrapped in tenderness.
Danger disguised as devotion.
I forced a careful breath, keeping my expression neutral even as alarm bells rang in my head.
“You shouldn’t say things like that,” I murmured.
Lucas smiled faintly. “You’ll get used to hearing worse.”
I didn’t respond.
Inside, my instincts sharpened.
Lucas wasn’t just offering protection.
He was staking a claim.
And Xavier, whether he knew it yet or not, was standing directly between us.
I stayed silent, measuring every word I didn’t say, every emotion I refused to show.
Because one thing was suddenly very clear to me.
In this mansion, being wanted… might be the most dangerous thing of all.
"I want you to think on my offer while you rest," he said. “We’ll talk tomorrow,” his tone calm, almost tender.
“I’ll have a maid bring you dinner.”
“I’m not hungry,” I replied, my voice firm.
“All right, then,” he said with a small nod, before closing the door behind him and locking it.
Immediately, I let out a long sigh of relief, pressing my back against the door.
God forbid I should believe the word of a man who works with a killer like Xavier and who has possibly taken innocent lives too.
Once the door clicked shut, I switched off the lights and moved to the corner of the room, phone in hand, scanning for hidden cameras.
My training as an assassin from the academy had ingrained every method, every trick for checking a room.
Slowly, carefully, I swept the phone’s lens over the walls, the ceiling edges, even the corners of the floor.
Nothing. No blinking lights, no tiny black dots, no hidden lenses. Strange.
The door was secure, locked as expected.
I moved to the window next, opening it skillfully without making a sound.
A small smile tugged at my lips, escaping wasn’t impossible.
I climbed onto the ledge, feeling the cool night air brush against my damp skin, carrying faint scents, carrying clues.
A sharp tang of water reached my nose. There it was, a river, hidden somewhere behind the mansion.
I paused for a moment, letting the wind guide me, its subtle shifts pointing the way.
My training kicked in, instincts alive. I traced the scent, edging along the roof, silent and deliberate.
The darkness was in my favor tonight; no moon meant shadows could swallow me whole.
I glanced around, noting the positions of the guards, memorizing every movement, every pattern.
None of them noticed as I began my careful trek across the roof toward the back of the mansion.
There it was: the river. Its surface shimmered faintly in the darkness.
I took a deep breath, pushed off, and leapt into the water, submerging myself and cutting silently through the current.
My heart raced, adrenaline sharp in my veins, but I moved like a shadow, every stroke purposeful.
When I finally reached the far bank, I hauled myself out, shaking water from my hair.
I laughed, a sound of disbelief and triumph. It worked. I had actually done it.
My pulse slowly steadied as I pressed myself against the riverbank, scanning for any sign that I’d been seen.
Then I heard slow, deliberate claps. “Congratulations,” a voice said, calm, amused, echoing softly across the water.
My laughter froze, replaced instantly by fear.
I spun toward the sound, eyes wide, searching for the figure stepping out from the shadows.