Chapter 17

Isadora

I didn’t sleep.

Not because I was afraid of what Luca would do, but because I was afraid of what he wouldn’t.

There was something about the way he looked at me tonight, like he was waiting. Like he was daring me to keep pushing. And I would.

Because I wasn’t like Alicia.

I wasn’t going to die just because I trusted the wrong person.

And maybe that’s what scared me the most because the longer I was around Luca, the more I realized I did trust him.

And I hated that.

Next morning

I was at the breakfast table when he walked in, looking infuriatingly unbothered. Like last night hadn’t happened. Like he hadn’t caught me in his office and warned me in that deadly voice of his.

He poured himself a coffee, glancing at me as he took a sip.

“You look tired.”

I ignored him.

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Still on the silent treatment, huh?”

I stabbed at my food.

Luca leaned against the counter, watching me with that unreadable expression. “Alright, princesa. I’ll play along. Let’s see how long you can keep it up.”

His smugness made my blood boil.

“Why do you still have a picture of Alicia?” I asked, looking him dead in the eye.

His smirk faded.

Ah. So I could get under his skin.

He exhaled slowly, setting his coffee down. “You don’t let things go, do you?”

“No,” I said. “I don’t.”

He studied me for a long moment. “She was important to someone I owed a debt to. That’s all you need to know.”

Bullshit.

“And the man in the picture?”

His jaw ticked. “Dead.”

That was supposed to scare me off. It didn’t.

I leaned back, crossing my arms. “So he was involved in whatever happened to her.”

Luca didn’t answer.

Because he didn’t have to.

The silence was enough.

I should’ve been scared. But I wasn’t. I was angry. Angry that he kept deciding what I should and shouldn’t know. Angry that he still thought he was protecting me when all he was doing was keeping me in a cage.

I stood abruptly, pushing my chair back. “You can pretend all you want, Luca, but I will find out the truth.”

His eyes darkened.

Then, faster than I could react, he grabbed my wrist, pulling me flush against him.

“You think this is a game?” he murmured, his voice dangerously soft. “You keep pushing, Isadora, and you’re going to get answers you can’t handle.”

I swallowed hard, hating the way my pulse reacted to his nearness. To his touch.

“Try me.”

For a second, I thought he was going to do something reckless.

Then, just as quickly, he released me.

“Fine,” he said, stepping back. “You want the truth? Start with your own family.”

I froze.

“What the hell does that mean?”

He grabbed his coffee, completely unfazed. “Figure it out.”

Then he walked out, leaving me standing there heart pounding, mind racing, knowing I was about to unearth something I might not be ready for.

I barely tasted my breakfast after that. Luca’s words kept replaying in my head

Start with your own family.

What the hell did that even mean?

By the time I got to campus, my thoughts were a tangled mess. I barely noticed the people around me, barely registered the noise of students rushing between classes. My mind was stuck on Luca, on Alicia, on the man in the picture.

And, most of all, on whatever the hell he thought I needed to know about my family.

I spotted Laura sitting under our usual tree, scrolling through her phone, a cup of coffee balanced on her knee. The moment she saw me, her brows pulled together.

“Wow. You look like shit.”

“Thanks.” I dropped into the seat across from her, rubbing my temples.

She took a sip of her coffee. “Bad night?”

I let out a humorless laugh. “You have no idea.”

Laura studied me, then leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Luca?”

I sighed, tapping my fingers against the table. “I don’t know what game he’s playing, but this morning, he said something about my family. Like there’s something I don’t know.”

Her face twisted in confusion. “Your family? Like your dad?”

I nodded, feeling my stomach twist at the thought.

Laura frowned. “That’s weird. I mean, your dad’s a big-shot businessman, right? What could he possibly have to do with any of this?”

“That’s what I need to find out.”

She hesitated, glancing around before lowering her voice even more. “Do you think Luca’s lying?”

I thought about it. I wanted to say yes. That this was just another way to mess with me. But something about the way he said it, the look in his eyes, it felt real.

And that scared me more than anything.

I exhaled sharply. “I don’t know. But I have to dig.”

Laura nodded slowly. “Okay. Then we start with what we know.” She pulled out her laptop. “I can try running a search on your dad’s business, see if there’s anything shady.”

I nodded, but my stomach churned at the thought. Because if Luca was right… then I was about to uncover something I might not be ready for.