Chapter 34 The distance we couldn't keep
Lina’s POV
The drive back from the warehouse was silent. Carlino’s knuckles were white against the steering wheel, his silence a physical weight in the cramped interior of the car. We didn't head back to the bungalow, he took a sharp turn toward a secluded apartment overlooking the industrial docks. It was a fortress of glass and cold stone, far from the prying eyes of his men.
"Trade?" I whispered, the word finally breaking through the static in my head. "Carlino, what are they going to trade me for?"
"Nothing," he snapped, his voice a jagged edge. "Because it’s not happening."
"You can't just 'nothing' a threat like that!" I rounded on him as he killed the engine.
"They were inside your car. They were inside the warehouse.”
He turned to me, his eyes dark pits of frustration. "I am trying to keep you alive, Lina. Why is that so hard for you to grasp?"
"Because you're treating me like a cursed object instead of a person!" I shoved the door open and marched toward the elevator.
Inside the apartment, the tension didn't dissipate, it coiled tighter. The space was minimalist, shadows stretching across polished floors, floor-to-ceiling windows reflecting the dark churn of the river below. I didn't look for the switch to turn on the lights. I didn't want to see the reality of the situation. I wanted to outrun it.
"Go to the bedroom," Carlino ordered, tossing his keys on a marble counter. "Lock the door. I need to make calls."
"No."
He stopped mid-stride. "Excuse me?"
"I’m done taking orders from a man who won’t even look me in the eye when he’s terrified for me." I stepped into his space, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm. "You act like you’re made of stone, but I felt you shaking in that warehouse. You’re human, Carlino. Stop pretending you’re not."
"You want me to be human?" He took a predatory step forward, his shadow engulfing mine. "Humanity is a liability in my world. It’s a weakness that gets people killed. It’s what Kailen is counting on."
"Then let's be weak," I defied, my voice trembling but certain. "Just for tonight. Because tomorrow, they might take me, or they might kill you, and I refuse to spend my last night wondering what your skin feels like against mine." The words came out before I could withhold them.
The air between us snapped.
Carlino reached out, his hand tangling in my hair with a desperation that bypassed gentleness. He pulled my head back, forcing me to look at him. "You have no idea what you’re asking for. If I start, Lina, I won’t be able to stop. The walls I built to keep you safe? They’ll burn."
"Let them burn," I whispered.
He didn't wait for another word. His mouth crashed against mine, a collision of teeth and heat that tasted of salt and suppressed longing. It wasn't a soft kiss; it was a reclamation. I groaned into his throat, my hands clawing at his jacket, needing to get closer, needing to erase the inch of air that still separated us.
He hoisted me up, my legs instinctively wrapping around his waist. He carried me toward the bedroom, never breaking the kiss, his movements frantic and raw. He kicked the door shut behind us, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the quiet apartment.
He dropped me onto the bed, the mattress absorbing the impact as he followed me down, pinning me with his weight. His hands were everywhere—tearing at my shirt, mapping the curve of my waist, pressing into my skin as if he were trying to leave permanent marks.
"Tesoro," he growled against my ear, his breath hot and ragged. "Tell me to stop. Right now. Because in five seconds, I’m yours, and I’m never letting go."
"Don't you dare stop," I breathed longing for his touch, arching my back as his lips found the sensitive cord of my neck.
He stripped away our clothes with a frantic efficiency, his eyes never leaving mine. In the silver moonlight filtering through the window, he looked like a god of war—scarred, powerful, and utterly undone. When his skin finally met mine, the shock of it made me gasp. He was burning.
He moved over me, his hands pinning mine to the pillows. His movements were a chaotic blend of dominance and total surrender. He kissed me until my lungs ached, his tongue dancing with mine in a rhythm that mirrored the frantic beating of our hearts.
As he pressed into me, every thought of the warehouse, the trade, and the invisible enemies outside vanished. There was only the weight of him, the friction of his chest against my breasts, and the way his fingers curled into mine.
He moved with a relentless, driving force, each thrust a silent vow, a desperate attempt to tether me to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, my nails digging into his shoulders as the world narrowed down to this single, pulsating point of contact.
We were drowning in each other, two people clinging to a life raft in the middle of a storm. Every touch was a silent admission, every muffled cry was a confession of the fear we couldn't speak aloud. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his body shuddering as the tension finally broke, a tidal wave of sensation that left us both gasping for air.
Later, the room was silent save for the sound of our synchronized breathing. Carlino lay with his arm draped over my waist, his thumb tracing idle circles on my hip. For the first time since I’d met him, the hard lines of his face had softened completely.
"I can't let them have you," he murmured into the dark.
"I know."
"I'll burn this city to the ground before I let them touch a hair on your head."
I turned on my side, looking at him. "Is that the 'noble' part or the 'honest' part?"
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. "It's the part where I realize I'm a dead man if you leave."
I reached out, tracing the line of his jaw.
"Then don't let me go," I said more to myself than him.
The moment was perfect—peaceful, heavy, and terrifying. But perfection in Carlino’s world never lasted.
His phone, discarded on the floor amidst our clothes, vibrated. The screen flickered to life, casting a sickly blue glow against the wall.
He leaned over the edge of the bed to see it. He grabbed the phone. I sat up instantly, my internal alarm bells screaming. "What is it?"
He didn't speak. He just turned the screen toward me.
It was a photo taken through the very window we were sitting next to. It showed us, tangled together in the sheets, from an angle that shouldn't have been possible unless someone was perched on the ledge of the skyscraper.
Underneath the photo was a single line of text: Beautiful. It’s a shame to break something so pretty.
A second later, the heavy reinforced glass of the bedroom window didn't shatter—it hissed. A small, glowing red dot appeared on Carlino’s chest, centered right over his heart.
"Down!" he roared, lunging for me.
The world exploded in a spray of silvered glass.