Chapter 41 Ride Back
Anna's POV
I didn’t know what came over me. Maybe it was the tension. Maybe it was the fear. Or maybe… it was just Lucas.
But instead of pulling away, I kissed him back.
Slow at first. Like I was testing something I didn’t fully understand.
His hand slid to my waist, pulling me closer, and the kiss deepened. My heart started racing, faster and faster, like it was trying to warn me… or push me further.
I didn’t know which. For a moment, I let myself get lost in it. In the warmth. In the feeling of being wanted.
But then his hand moved up. And when he touched my boobs. I snapped back to reality.
I pulled away abruptly. My breath came out uneven, my chest rising and falling as I stared at him.
Lucas froze immediately. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly, his voice filled with regret. “I didn’t mean to— I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s okay,” I cut in, shaking my head slightly.
He looked at me, unsure.
“I just…” I exhaled softly. “I’m more comfortable if we take things slowly.”
There was a brief pause. Then he nodded. “I understand.” And he did. I could see it in his eyes.
He started the car, but I noticed the change in him. Lucas was nervous. And that was strange. Because Lucas was never nervous.
I leaned back slightly, watching him from the corner of my eye as he drove.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked.
He glanced at me briefly, then chuckled. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“I’m curious.”
“That’s dangerous in this world,” he muttered.
I smirked faintly. “So is everything else.”
That made him smile slightly. Then I tilted my head. “Have you ever been in love before?”
He chuckled again. “That’s not even a question,” he said. “You know I’m in love with you.”
I rolled my eyes lightly. “I mean before me.”
That made him pause. Just for a second.
“I don’t know,” he said eventually. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
I frowned slightly. “That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
I studied him for a moment, then asked, “What about Xavier?”
That got his attention. He glanced at me again, then back at the road. “Xavier?” he repeated.
“Yes. Has he ever been in love?”
There was a short silence. Then Lucas nodded. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “He has.”
My brows lifted immediately. That… I didn’t expect. “You’re serious?”
“Very.”
I leaned forward slightly, more interested now. “What happened to her?”
Lucas shrugged faintly. “No one knows.”
“What do you mean no one knows?”
“I mean exactly that,” he said. “He never talks about it. Never mentions her. It’s like she just… disappeared.”
I frowned. “Do you think he killed her?”
Lucas let out a short laugh. “No.” He shook his head. “Xavier wasn’t like this back then.”
I raised a brow. “He didn’t kill people?”
“Not even close,” Lucas said. “That version of Xavier came later.”
My curiosity deepened. “So what changed?”
Lucas exhaled slowly. “After he lost her… he changed. Became quiet. Distant. Brooding.”
He paused. “Then about a year later… he joined the mafia.”
“And started killing?” I added.
Lucas nodded. “Yeah.”
I leaned back in my seat, processing that.
Xavier in love? It didn’t fit the image I had of him at all.
“Has he loved anyone since?” I asked.
Lucas shook his head. “No.”
“Why?”
“He hates women now,” Lucas said simply.
I blinked. “Hates women?”
“Pretty much.”
I couldn’t help it—I smiled slightly. “Are you sure he’s not just gay?”
Lucas laughed. “No. He’s not.”
I tilted my head, studying him. “Sometimes I look at you,” I said slowly, “and I can tell you really love Xavier.”
Lucas didn’t even hesitate. “I do.”
I blinked. “That was fast.”
He smiled faintly. “I’d kill for him.”
There was no joke in his tone. “And yet,” I said quietly, “you’re willing to betray him… because of me.”
That one hit. I saw it. Lucas didn’t answer immediately.
His grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly.
“I…” he started, then stopped.
He exhaled. “I want you,” he said finally. “But I don’t know how to tell him.”
My chest tightened slightly. “Why?”
He laughed softly, but there was no humor in it.
“Because I don’t know how he’ll react.”
“He’s not going to kill you,” I said.
“No,” Lucas agreed. Then his voice dropped. “But he might get rid of you.”
My heart skipped. “What?”
“If he thinks you’re becoming a weakness for me,” Lucas continued, “he won’t hesitate, he might even go as far as killing you."
A chill ran down my spine. “It sounds like he’s done something like that before,” I said carefully.
Lucas went quiet. Then shook his head. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
That was answer enough. Silence filled the car for a moment.
Then he glanced at me. “What about you?”
I looked at him.
“Have you ever been in love?” he asked.
I shook my head immediately. “No.” Not even a second of hesitation. “Never.”
He studied me for a moment. “Not even once?”
“Not even close,” I said.
He nodded slowly. Then asked the question I wasn’t ready for. “What about now?”
My mind went blank. Completely blank. For a second, I couldn’t even think.
“I… don’t know,” I said finally. And that was the truth. “Probably no.”
But the moment I said it— My heart betrayed me. It skipped.
Lucas noticed. Of course he did. But he didn’t push. He just nodded and focused back on the road.
The rest of the drive was quiet. When we finally got to the mansion, he parked the car and turned to me.
“Go inside,” he said softly. “The men will bring your things to you."
I nodded. “Okay. Thank you."
I stepped out of the car, my mind still spinning.
Everything felt… complicated.
Lucas was inlove with me, Xavier was suspicious and strangely unpredictable.
But what scared me more than anything, was my own feelings.