Luca shut his eyes to rest and reset them from the intense burning that stabbed away at his sight. A minute later he opened them to see La’Nova pushing herself up slowly. Her breath caught once their eyes locked. He eyed the thin purple nightgown sliding against her skin as she sat upright.
For seconds that felt like hours they stared at one another, saying nothing. Finally, La’Nova’s eyes moved over him, taking him in, piece by piece. He looked too good. His hair was freshly cut clean into waves that looked intentionally brushed to perfection. He wore a fitted black button-down, sleeves pushed up, exposing his thick forearms marked with tattoos that told stories she hadn’t heard of yet.
His black slacks were tailored perfectly to his build. Luca didn’t look like he came to beg her for any understanding. He looked like he came to end something. Her eyes dropped once more to the gun securely in his hand. Her gaze dropped further to what she already knew was ginger and lemon tea sitting on the floor right beside his shoe.
Her stomach tanked again as reality sunk into every vein inside of her body.
I’m not free after all… he came to fuckin’ kill me…
When her eyes locked back with his, his gaze didn’t waver. His woodsy scent traveled into her senses just as he licked his full lips and cleared his throat.
“Russian roulette…” he whispered, nudging his head in the direction of the gun that sat on top of her pillow.
A charged silence fell over both of them. La’Nova looked down at the gun, her mouth dried up as she willed herself to trace the cold metal with the tip of her fingers.
“Russian roulette,” Luca repeated as if she hadn’t heard him the first time. He leaned down slowly, to retrieve his tea.
“It reminds me of us.” He waved his gun back and forth between the small amount of space between them.
La’Nova’s brows pulled together in confusion. She frowned before picking up the gun on her pillow; her index finger instantly curved around the trigger. Luca was toying with her nerves with each second that passed between them. He moved slow and precisely, eyes peeking over the rim of his cup as he took deliberate sips.
La’Nova suddenly thought about an earlier conversation the both of them had in her camper.
“If I ever have to show my face outside of a meeting with my table,” he went on. “It means something already went wrong.”
“What happens when you show up alone?” She asked.
“I’m coming to kill… they’d never see me coming.” His jaws clenched tight.
Reality slammed into La’Nova before she licked her lips and asked.
“Are you here alone, Luca?” She raised her brows, hating the fear that crept inside of her.
He nodded once and smirked smugly in her direction, indicating he knew exactly where her mind tracked back to.
“There was a risk I was willing to take in the beginning with you…” He cleared his throat, ready to fight through the pain in order to whisper out his grievances. “Now there’s a risk of two people sitting across from each other, not knowing who will walk away.” He cracked his neck from left to right.
“There’s only one thing left to decide,” he said.
Her gray eyes pierced into his, and Luca saw the hesitation as La’Nova picked her gun up and pointed it in his direction.
“Decide what, Luca?” She tilted her head slightly to the side.
“Who lives after today,” he whispered harshly.
Silence crashed into the room, making it hard for La’Nova to breathe through the thick tension. Her chest rose hard, breath catching as the weight of his words settled deep inside her. She hated that tears now burned at the brim of her eyes instantly, but she fought them, blinking hard as she continue to gaze into his dark pools.
“I don’t want you to kill me.” She licked her dry lips.
Luca scoffed lowly and shook his head no, fighting hard at his own emotions. In this moment, La’Nova didn’t care if it sounded like she was begging for him to spare her life. The past few weeks were the best to her, she wanted to continue to enjoy the freedom that she waited so long for. Her New Year resolution finally came true after years of praying hard for it.
“I could have killed Lucille, there were plenty of times I had the chance, Di Luca?—”
“Don’t call me that shit,” he spat, shooting her a nasty glare.
“I could have killed you the first time we were alone, but I didn’t!” She confessed, heart nearly beating out of her chest.
Seconds later, a small sob escaped her lips. La’Nova was tired of keeping it all together. Always appearing strong when on the inside, she wanted to let it all go. She fought through the pieces of her brokenness for years just to feel an ounce of freedom. The hardest task was fighting through rare feelings that she felt for the man sitting across from her. It hurt her each time she was near him, having to build strong walls to stop herself from falling for Luca already knowing the outcome.
