My pulse thundered as I stared at the black SUV parked at the edge of the driveway. The tension in the air was suffocating, as though the wind itself was holding its breath.

“Get in,” Luca’s deep voice commanded from the driver’s seat.

I didn’t move. “Why should I?”

His gaze met mine—unreadable, cold. Yet underneath, there was something else… a storm barely held at bay.

“Because I’m not asking.”

His words snapped like a whip. I swallowed hard but squared my shoulders. “You don’t own me.”

A pause. Then a smirk curled on his lips, dark and dangerous. “That’s where you’re wrong, princess.”

Despite myself, a shiver crept down...