Chapter 43 Amelia
Amelia
I sit at the dining table and stare at the dark screen of my laptop. The silence in the penthouse is heavy after the front door clicked shut behind Sophia. I can hear the distant hum of the city traffic many floors below us. Luca is standing by the window with his back to me and he hasn't moved a muscle since his fiancée walked out.
Engaged.
The word feels like a physical weight in my chest. I try to focus on the Northern Logistics files but the numbers are blurring together. I am annoyed by how much that one word actually bothered me. I am a captain in the military and I am here for a mission. I am not a schoolgirl and I am certainly not here to catch feelings for a man who is clearly out of my league.
I think about Sophia. She was stunning. She carried herself with the kind of confidence that only comes from old money and high status. Her dress was perfect and her hair was perfect. Even the way she looked at me was perfect in its own condescending way. She looked like she belonged in this penthouse. She looked like she belonged on Luca’s arm.
I look down at my own hands. My fingernails are short and my skin is scarred from years of training. I am wearing an oversized hoodie that probably costs more than my apartment back in the city. I feel like an intruder. I feel like a stray dog that Luca decided to take in because he felt sorry for me.
Why does it hurt? I ask myself that question and I don't like the answer. I have spent the last few days relying on him. He saved my life and he gave me a place to hide. He has been the only constant in a world that is trying to kill me. I thought we had a connection. I thought the quiet moments in the library meant something. Apparently they just meant I was a guest who should know her place.
"You should have mentioned her," I say. My voice sounds steadier than I feel.
Luca finally turns around. He leans against the glass and looks at me. His expression is neutral. He looks like he is just closing a business deal.
"It is a business arrangement, Amelia," he says. "Our families have ties that go back decades. It is about shipping interests and territory and all that boring nonsense. It's not exactly a grand romance."
"I don't care about your romance, Luca," I lie. I start stacking my folders into a neat pile. "I care about my cover. If your fiancée is the jealous type she is going to start asking questions. Questions lead to talk and talk leads to Valentino finding out exactly where I am."
"Sophia understands the value of silence," Luca says. He walks toward the kitchen and pours a glass of water. "She is not going to run to the police. She just wanted to see who was taking up my time."
"And she saw me," I say. I let out a short and sarcastic laugh. "I'm sure she was very impressed. I bet I'm a real step down from the usual baddies you frolic with."
Luca stops with the glass halfway to his mouth. He looks at me for a long beat. "You aren't a step down from anyone, Amelia."
I look away because I don't want him to see the flush in my cheeks. I don't want his pity and I don't want his compliments. I am a soldier and I need to start acting like one. I have a job to do. I have a criminal to catch.
"I am going to bed," I say. I stand up and grab my laptop. "I want to be at the docks by five in the morning. I need to see if Northern Logistics is actually moving those crates tonight."
"I will have a car ready for you," Luca says.
"I can take a taxi," I shoot back.
"You will take my driver," he says. His voice is firm. "Verona is dangerous right now. If you want to stay here you follow my rules. That was the deal."
I want to argue but I am too tired. I just nod and walk toward the bedroom I was given. I close the door and lean my back against it. My heart is racing and my side is throbbing. I feel like a fool. I am hunting the most dangerous man in Italy and I am worried about a billionaire's engagement.
I set my laptop on the nightstand and lay down on the bed. I stare at the ceiling for a long time. I keep seeing Sophia’s face and the way she smiled when she said the word 'engaged'. She knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted to remind me that I don't belong here.
She's right. I don't. But I am not leaving until I get what I came for. I am going to find Ren Moretti and I am going to put him in a cage. And when I am done I am going to walk away from this penthouse and this man and I am never going to look back.
I close my eyes and try to sleep. But all I can think about is the way Luca looked at me when he said I wasn't a step down. He is a liar. He has to be. Men like him don't choose women like me. They choose women like Sophia.
I just need to remember that.
Tomorrow the real work begins. I am going to the docks. I am going to find my target. And I am going to forget that Sophia Morelli ever existed.
I lay in the darkness of the guest room and stare at the ceiling. The sheets are soft and expensive but they feel like sandpaper against my skin. I try to close my eyes and force my brain to shut down but it's useless. Every time I drift off I see Sophia’s perfect face. I hear the word engaged echoing in my ears like a taunt. And it's starting to get pretty annoying.
I roll onto my good side and the movement sends a sharp pinch through my ribs. I let out a quiet hiss of breath. My side is healing but it is far from being fine. I am frustrated with my own body. I am frustrated with the fact that I am sitting in a penthouse instead of being in the mud with my unit.
The apartment is not as silent as I will like it to be. I can hear the distant hum of the city but I can also hear Luca. I hear the faint click of a glass hitting the marble countertop in the kitchen. I hear his footsteps moving slowly across the living room. They are steady and rhythmic. He is still awake. He is likely thinking about the same things I am.
I wait for twenty minutes. I try to count my breaths. I try to go through my tactical training in my head but my mind keeps wandering back to the hallway. Eventually I realize that sleep is not coming. I am thirsty and the painkillers from earlier are starting to wear off. I need water and I need to move.
I push myself out of bed and stand up. I don't turn on the light. I navigate the room by the dim glow of the streetlights filtering through the curtains. I walk to the door and open it quietly. The hallway is dark but a soft light is spilling out from the kitchen area.
I walk toward the light and find Luca standing by the island. He has his back to me. He has taken off his suit jacket and his white shirt is unbuttoned at the collar. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. He is staring at a glass of water so intently, I wonder what is going through his head.
"I thought you said you were going to get some sleep," he says without turning around.
"Apparently, the sleep and my body didn't get the memo," I respond.
Luca turns around and leans his back against the counter. He doesn't look like the polished businessman I saw in the library earlier. He looks tired. There are dark circles under his eyes and his hair is slightly messy. He looks human. It is a dangerous look for him to have.
"I couldn't sleep either," he admits. He reaches into a cabinet and pulls out a clean glass. He fills it with cold water from the dispenser and sets it on the island for me. "Your side is hurting again. I can see it in the way you are standing."
"It's just a sting," I say. I walk over and pick up the glass. "I've had worse from training exercises."
"Training exercises don't usually involve high-caliber rounds and burning warehouses," he says. He reaches for a small bottle on the counter and shakes out two pills. "Take these. They are stronger than the ones you have in your bag."
I look at the pills and then at him. I wonder why he is being so kind to me. He has no reason to care if I am in pain. He could have left me at the villa or handed me over to my brother days ago. Instead he is standing here in the middle of the night making sure I am comfortable.
"Why are you doing this, Luca?" I ask.
"Doing what?"
"Providing a safe house. Playing doctor. Helping me hunt a man who would probably kill you just for knowing me." I take a sip of the water and watch him closely. "You are an investor. You don't do things without a return on your investment. What is your play here?"
Luca watches me for a second too long. The silence in the kitchen stretches out and becomes something heavy. He steps away from the counter and moves closer to me. He stops just a few inches away. I can feel the heat radiating off him. I can smell the faint scent of cedar and expensive soap.
"Maybe I just don't like seeing things go to waste," he says. His voice is a low rasp. "You are a good soldier, Amelia. It would be a shame if you died because you were too stubborn to take a day off."
He reaches out and brushes a stray lock of hair away from my face. His fingers graze my temple and I feel a spark of electricity run down my spine. I should pull away. I should tell him to keep his hands to himself. But I stay perfectly still.
I notice small details about him that I haven't seen before. I see the way his pulse is beating in his neck. I see the intensity in his eyes. He isn't just a man helping me. He is a man who is looking at me like he sees exactly who I am.
"I am not a project," I whisper.
"I know what you are," he says.
He doesn't move his hand. His thumb traces a line down to my jaw. The tension in the room is thick enough to choke on. My heart is pounding against my ribs and it has nothing to do with the mission. For a second I forget about the docks. I forget about Northern Logistics. I forget about the fact that he is engaged to a woman who looks like a supermodel.
Then I remember.
I think about Sophia standing in this very room. I think about the way she looked at him. I think about the life he has and the world he belongs to. I am a soldier with a target on my back. He is a man with a ring waiting for another woman.
I step back and break the contact. The cold air hits my skin where his hand was. I take the pills from the counter and swallow them with the rest of my water.
"I need to go back to bed," I say. I don't look at him. "Five o'clock comes early."
"Amelia," he says.
"Goodnight, Luca," I say firmly.
I walk away from him and head toward the hallway. My feet feel heavy on the hardwood floor. I keep my eyes focused on the door to my room. I try to pull myself together and act like a captain again. I tell myself that the moment in the kitchen was just a lapse in judgment because I am tired and in pain. I remind myself that Sophia was just here. I remind myself that she is his fiancée and I am just a project to him.
I reach the entrance to the hallway when I hear his footsteps behind me. They are slow and deliberate. My heart starts to pound against my ribs again. I want to keep walking but I find myself stopping. I don't turn around at first. I just stand there in the dark and wait for him to say something.
"Amelia," he says.
His voice is quiet but it vibrates in the small space. I take a deep breath and turn around. He is much closer than I expected. He is standing right in front of me and the hallway is so narrow that I can feel the heat from his body. The shadows are deep here and the only light comes from the far end of the kitchen.
"This stops now, Luca," I say. My voice is sharp and I hope it sounds more confident than I feel. "Whatever you are doing, you need to stop it. You are an engaged man. Sophia was just in this apartment. We are both adults and we both know this is a mistake."
I try to walk past him to get to my door. I want to end this before I do something stupid. But as I move, he reaches out and grabs my arm. He doesn't do it roughly but his grip is firm. He pulls me back toward him and I end up right against his chest.
"Let go of me," I say. I put my hands on his shoulders to push him away. "You are playing games and I don't have time for them. I have a mission to finish."
"I am not playing games, Amelia," he says. He doesn't let go of my arm. He moves his other hand to the small of my back and pulls me closer.
"This is wrong," I tell him. I look up at him and I can see the intensity in his eyes. "You have a life. You have a woman waiting to marry you. I am a soldier. I am here to catch a criminal and then I am gone. Why are you doing this?"
"I don't care about any of that right now," he says.
He says it with a blunt honesty that catches me off guard. He doesn't try to explain Sophia away. He doesn't make a grand speech about how his engagement is a lie. He just looks at me like I am the only thing in the world that matters. It makes the moment feel raw and dangerous.
I should push harder. I should kick him or use one of the many takedown maneuvers I learned in the academy. But my body isn't listening to my brain. My heart is racing so fast that it hurts. I am acutely aware of his hands on me. I am aware of the scent of cedar on his skin. I am confused by the fact that I want him to keep holding me even though I know it is a disaster.
"You're going to regret this," I whisper.
"Maybe," he says.
He moves his hand from my arm to my face. He tilts my chin up so I have to look at him. His thumb brushes over my lower lip and I feel a shiver go through my entire body. I want to tell him to stop. I want to tell him that I hate him for making me feel this way. But the words don't come out.
He leans down until his face is inches from mine. I can feel his breath on my skin. He hesitates for a second and I see the conflict in his eyes. Neither of us steps back. Neither of us moves to end the tension. We are just standing there in the dark hallway while the rest of the world waits for us to make a move.
"Don't do it, Luca," I say.
But I don't move. I stay right where I am. I am falling for a man who is supposed to be a stranger. And I am terrified that I am not going to be the one to stop him.
He moves closer and I close my eyes. I can feel the world shifting under my feet. Everything I thought I knew about this mission and this man is starting to burn.