The silence between us is a pressure cooker… hissing, pulsing, toxic as fuck.It dares me to speak.Dares him to snap.But neither of us flinch.Not yet.
The engine screams as Matteo’s foot slams harder on the gas, the car surging forward, fueled by rage.Black metal devours the road, slicing through the night, a blade tearing everything in its path.Shadows flicker past the windows, ghosts we leave behind.But inside… it’s just him and me.Trapped in a silence that roars louder than any fight.
Finally, I snap.The silence cuts too deep, coils too tight.My voice slices through it, jagged and raw.
“Where the fuck are we going?”
It’s not a question, it’s a challenge.Because sitting in this car with him, with that goddamn gun and all this unfinished shit between us, feels like waiting for a bomb to go off.
He doesn’t even look at me, just keeps his eyes locked on the road with that lethal focus.But I see it.The twitch in his jaw, the way his fingers strangle the wheel, as if it’s the only thing keeping him from snapping.He doesn’t answer, but his silence… it fucking screams.
The heat climbs, curling in my chest, a flame I can’t put out.But I don’t back down.I lean into it.
“Answer me, Matteo.”My voice is sharper now, cutting through the roar of the engine.“Where the fuck are we going?”
“Shut the fuck up, Em,” he says, his gaze never leaving the road.“You don’t get to ask questions.You don’t get to know.You just fucking follow.”His words hit like bullets.“You’ll know when you need to know.”
“God, you’re such an asshole,” I snap.“What is this… the fucking Matteo Show?”I hurl the words, each one sharper than the last.“I’m just supposed to sit here, all quiet and obedient while you play mafia king and expect me to be grateful I’m choking on your overpriced cologne.Fuck you, Matteo.”
I wait.
For a twitch, a glance, a curse.For something.
But he gives me nothing.Not a flicker of interest.Not a goddamn blink.Like I’m just background noise he’s learned to ignore.
So, I go for the one thing I know that used to hurt him the deepest, without ever spilling blood.I turn away from him.As if I’m bored.As if he’s nothing.As if the fire between us never even scorched me.
And in the silence, I feel it.
A shift in him so slight it could be missed, but I don’t.A small crack in his armor.Barely there.But still, it’s enough.And for a second, it feels like a win.
I exhale hard, frustration burning in my chest as I rest my head against the cold glass.I won’t look at him.I can’t.Not at that stupid, gorgeous, maddening face.The one that makes me want to scream, cry, break something...or kiss him so hard I forget every reason as to why I should hate him.
The city outside blurs past.A smear of lights and shadows, slipping by too fast to hold onto, vanishing too fast to catch.My thoughts aren’t any better.Broken.Feral.Caught in a loop that won’t let go.
Your father sold you out.Sold you like a fucking pawn to the highest bidder.
The thought of my own father, the man who was supposed to protect me, trading me as if I were nothing more than currency.It makes my stomach twist, bile rising under the weight of it.The betrayal burns, sinking its teeth in.
I was never his daughter.Just a debt to settle.A pawn shoved across the board by the one person who was supposed to fight for me.
And the worst part….Some fucked-up part of me still wants to believe he didn’t do it.
Chapter Five
Matteo
Theworldoutsideisa blur of dark roads and distant lights.The silence finally doesn’t feel suffocating.
Maybe it’s because Emery’s finally quiet, her smart mouth giving me a break for once.She’s been sleeping for the past hour, her head resting against the seat, her body curled slightly, as if she’s trying to shrink away from everything.
I glance at her, and it’s hard not to notice how different she looks when she’s not fighting.Her face is softer now, almost peaceful.She doesn’t seem to be the same woman who challenged me at every turn, who fought me with every word..But even in sleep, there’s tension in her face, the kind that says her mind never fully lets go.
I can’t help but watch her, the soft rise and fall of her chest.
The girl I used to know, wrapped up in a shell that’s harder now, but still, that spark is in her.She’s still fucking beautiful.
And for the first time in hours, I don’t want to break her.
