Gunfire cracked from the edges of the site as Luca’s men surged in, shouting orders as they rushed the SUV where Tanaka’s backup waited.
Ava blinked, snapping out of her daze, and stumbled toward Luca.He stepped out of the cage at last, catching her as she collapsed against him.In one fluid motion, he pulled her down behind the construction materials, shielding her body with his own.
“You did it, love,” he whispered fiercely, his breath hot against her ear.“You saved my life.”
Ava’s hands clenched in his shirt as the reality hit her.Her body began to shake violently, surprised screams breaking loose before she could stop them.She pressed her face against his chest, not even thinking to breath as she clung to the fabric of his shirt.
She hadn’t just swung that pipe to save him.She’d swung it for both of them—for the fragile, impossible future she suddenly realized she wanted more than anything.
Luca didn’t flinch.He didn’t ask her to stop or push her away.Instead, he held her tighter, his grip solid and grounding, even as his eyes swept the shadows.
After several seconds of silence, several whistles rent the air.That was the signal from his men indicating that their section of the area was clear.
Without a word, he lifted her into his arms, carrying her toward the stairs.His men were already in motion, searching the perimeter with cold precision for a stray guy from Tanaka’s team.Jim stepped forward as Luca passed, his jaw set, his gaze flicking from Ava’s trembling form to Luca’s face.
“Ava,” Jim said, his voice steady but tight with concern, “you did a damn good job.We’ll get you out of here.”There was respect in his eyes, and something fiercer—acknowledgment that she had stepped into their world and survived.
Luca’s mind churned with a hundred questions, but they could wait.Only one thing mattered now: Ava’s safety.Getting her away from this hellhole, away from the men who had tried to break him, to use her.His plan tonight might have succeeded, but it had also spiraled into a disaster—but she was alive, and that was the victory.
He tightened his hold as they reached the waiting SUV.The engine was already idling, one guard slipping into the passenger seat while another swept the shadows with his weapon raised, pointed away from them.The rear door opened, and Luca slid inside with Ava still pressed to him, her face buried against his shoulder, her body trembling in the aftershock of violence.
Outside, his men dragged a bloodied, swearing Tanaka down the stairs to another vehicle.The man clutched his shoulder, his fury palpable even through the haze of pain.He was alive—barely—but Luca took grim satisfaction in the fact that Ava hadn’t taken a life tonight.She had enough to carry without that weight.
Luca’s own soul was already marked beyond repair by the blood he had spilled.Ava didn’t belong to that darkness.She was different.She was light, and somehow she had brought it to the very edge of hell to save him.
“You did it, Ava,” he whispered against her hair, his voice rough, breaking despite himself.“You saved my life tonight.I owe you everything.”
He kissed the crown of her head, the taste of gunpowder still clinging to the air, his chest heavy with gratitude and something deeper he couldn’t name.She had stood against Tanaka when it should have been impossible.She had fought for him—for them.
As the SUV sped away from the construction site, Luca felt the weight of the night settle on him like armor.Nothing would ever be the same.His life had been spared by the woman trembling in his arms, and he knew with brutal certainty—he would never let her go.
Chapter 23
Bythetimetheyreturned to his penthouse, Ava had caught her breath.
Ava’s exhaustion wasn’t just from the situation; he knew the residual adrenaline added to it, and Luca could feel it vibrating in the air around her.The fact that she was still shaking, even though the immediate danger had passed, hit him like a wave.As much as he could see the spark in her eyes, the rage in her body language, Luca couldn’t help but notice the beauty of it all.Hiswoman, utterly furious because he had almost been killed—and her fury was all for him.It was like a fire that burned, unstoppable and pure, and as much as it irritated him, part of him basked in the warmth of it.
“Are you okay?”Luca asked softly as he carried her into the elevator.Her silence had weighed heavily on him during the drive.She’d stopped trembling, but there was something colder in her now, something harder that worried him more than he cared to admit.
Ava nodded, but before he could react, she pulled away from him, moving to the far side of the elevator, her back straight, her posture rigid.The guards in front didn’t look at them but Luca could feel their awareness of the situation, no doubt listening intently to every word.
The elevator doors opened, and the guards stepped aside to leave them alone.Luca went first to the bar, grabbing two glasses and reaching for the scotch.He needed something to steady his nerves.He expected her to sit down, maybe collect herself.He wasn’t expecting the explosion that came next.
“Howdareyou!”Ava’s voice cracked with fury as she stepped toward him, and turned with enough anger blazing in her eyes to startle him.
Stunned, Luca stared at her, reeling from the force of her outrage.“Excuse me?”
“You put yourself out there as bait!”she spat, her voice trembling with raw emotion.“You purposely set yourself up, didn’t you?”
This was true.He had made the decision to make himself the target in order to draw out Tanaka.The fury in her eyes hit him with a force he didn’t expect.He had expected anger, yes, but not this level of visceral rage.This wasn’t just about him being in danger; this was about her caring—about hercaringenough to feel this strongly.
“Ava, you’re in shock.Why don’t you have–” He tried to deflect, but she cut him off.
“Answer me!”she demanded again, poking his chest with each word.“You put yourself in danger!You put yourself out there as bait because you couldn’t find the man!”
Luca’s mind raced.How had she figured that out in the half hour it had taken to drive back?Ava wasn’t one to miss details, but this was impressive.A rush of pride surged through him, and despite the anger rolling off her in waves, he couldn’t suppress the slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips.She gets it.
But he couldn’t smile.Not yet.
