Chapter 21
Lina's POV
The next morning, I was woken up by my biological clock.
When I opened my eyes, dawn had just broken. The morning light shone through the gaps in the curtains, casting a thin golden band of light on the floor.
I lay in bed, staring at the chandelier on the ceiling, spacing out for a long time.
In the past, the first thing I did when I woke up was always to check the surroundings, confirm safety, figure out all the escape routes, and check whether weapons were within reach.
This was an instinct carved into my bones from fifteen years at Raven. Even though I'd lived in Luca's apartment for so long, I had never broken this habit.
But not this morning. My first reaction after waking up was actually thinking about Luca's embrace last night, remembering that sentence he said, "This is all what I should do."
Lina, you really are falling deeper and deeper. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to push Luca out of my mind, got up to wash up and change clothes.
I had just finished washing up and walked out of the bedroom door when I heard the familiar knock from outside.
I walked over and opened the door to see Luca standing outside, holding a familiar paper bag in his hand.
"Morning." Luca smiled and handed me the paper bag. "Breakfast. Croissants and hot cocoa from that same shop."
"That shop is three blocks away from here," I raised an eyebrow, took the paper bag and stepped aside to let him in. "Did you also happen to pass by there today?"
Luca walked in, casually closed the door, leaned against the door frame and smiled openly. "Not on the way. I went specifically to buy it. But to buy breakfast for my good girl, no distance is out of the way."
My ears started burning inexplicably again. I quickly turned and walked into the kitchen, pretending to be busy getting plates to cover my flustered state.
We sat at the dining table eating breakfast. He watched me take bites of the croissant one by one, then suddenly spoke. "I'll pick you up after school this afternoon and take you to choose a gift for your friend's house on Saturday."
"You don't need to specially accompany me. I can search online for what I should buy." I said. "You have a lot of things to handle. You don't need to do this."
I knew Luca was very busy.
The Moretti family business, the landscape of New York's underworld, plus the Verona family watching like a tiger, Raven's potential threat—these things were enough to keep him busy from morning to night.
I didn't want to take up too much of his time because of such a small matter.
"No matter how busy, I have time to accompany you." Luca took a sip of coffee, his tone flat but carrying an unquestionable certainty. "Besides, it's your first time visiting a friend's house. Being a bit more formal isn't bad."
I pursed my lips but didn't refuse again.
After breakfast we went out together. Luca drove me to school.
At some distance from the school, Luca stopped the car. As I unbuckled my seatbelt and prepared to push the door open to get out, he called out to me.
"Lina, wait a moment."
"Mm?" I turned to look at him.
Luca reached into the passenger side glove compartment and took something out to hand to me.
It was a small silver handgun. The gun body was very light, much smaller than what I usually used, just right to hide in the inner compartment of my school bag.
"Take it." Luca said, his tone very serious. "Although I've arranged for people at the school, having this on you will make me feel more at ease."
I looked at that gun, stunned for a moment.
Before when Luca drove me to school, he repeatedly instructed me not to use my old skills, not to bring weapons to school, to be an ordinary student.
But now, he was personally handing me a gun.
"Didn't you tell me to be an ordinary person?" I asked.
"Ordinary people also have the right to protect themselves." Luca looked into my eyes, speaking word by word. "When I tell you to endure, I'm telling you not to expose your skills for people who aren't worth it, not telling you to have no ability to fight back when facing danger."
Luca stuffed the gun into my hand, closed my fingers, making me grip the gun body.
"Alessandro and Raven's people have already appeared near the school. I can't be by your side every moment. You hold onto this, I'll feel more at ease."
I gripped that gun. The cool metal sensation transmitted from my fingertips. This familiar touch strangely made me feel very secure.
I nodded, put the gun in the inner compartment of my school bag, together with that folding knife.
"Alright, I'll be careful." I said.
"Good." He smiled, reached out and gently ruffled my hair. "I'll wait for you here after school."
I pushed open the car door and got out, carrying my school bag toward the school gate.
When I reached the school gate, I looked back.
Luca's car was still stopped in the same place. The car window was half down. He was looking in my direction.
I waved at him. He also lifted his chin, which counted as a response.
I walked into the academic building. Just as I reached the classroom door, I saw Maggie standing there, on her tiptoes looking toward the stairwell. When she saw me coming, her eyes immediately lit up and she ran toward me.
"Lina! You're finally here!" Maggie grabbed my arm, her face carrying a bit of excitement and a bit of gossipy smile. "I just saw everything! That handsome guy who drove you here, he's the one who gave you the chocolate, right?"
I only felt my ears instantly heat up. My instinct was to deny it, but the words reached my lips and I swallowed them back.
"Yes." I nodded.
"Wow!" Maggie instantly let out a scream. After discovering that the surrounding people were all looking this way, she quickly covered her mouth and lowered her voice, pulling me toward a corner of the classroom.
"Who is he? He's so handsome! Even from far away I felt his aura was so strong! Is he your boyfriend?"
"No." I quickly shook my head. "He's... my uncle."
"Uncle?" Maggie blinked, showing an expression of disbelief. "Your real uncle?"
"Sort of." I vaguely responded, not wanting to explain too much about family matters.
Maggie made an "oh" sound, but still had an "I don't believe it" expression on her face. She leaned close to my ear and said softly: "But the way he looks at you doesn't look like he's looking at a niece at all."
My heartbeat skipped a beat. Just as I was about to say something more, the class bell rang.
Maggie winked at me and ran back to her own seat, leaving me standing there alone, my mind unsettled.
Throughout the entire morning of classes, Maggie kept secretly using notes to gossip with me about Luca, asking how old he was, what he did, what his personality was like, whether he had a girlfriend.
She asked until my head was spinning, but I couldn't bear to refuse her curiosity. I could only pick out what I could say and tell her bit by bit.
At lunchtime in the cafeteria, Maggie was still persistently questioning, until I brought up Saturday's visit to her house. Only then did she finally shift her attention.
She excitedly told me that her mom had already prepared several flavors of cookies, bought new movie discs, and even her family's cat was ready to welcome guests.
Watching her gesticulate animatedly, I couldn't help but feel a trace of anticipation in my heart.
This would be the first time in my life that I was invited to visit a friend's house.