Shattered Vows

The first kiss

The night was heavy, the air thick with unspoken words as Isa stood in the library, her eyes scanning the rows of books she wasn't really seeing.

The mansion had fallen silent, a suffocating kind of stillness, leaving her alone with her thoughts. But tonight, there was no escaping the storm brewing inside her.

No escaping Luca.

She heard his footsteps before she saw him. They were soft, deliberate, a warning that he was near.

She didn't turn to face him immediately; instead, she kept her focus on the book in her hand, though her fingers trembled against the spine.

"You're up late," Luca's deep voice broke the quiet, sending a shiver down Isa's spine.

His presence filled the room, dark and consuming.

Isa closed the book carefully, placing it back on the shelf. "Couldn't sleep," she murmured, her voice tight.

Luca moved closer, so close she could feel the heat radiating from him. "What's keeping you awake?"

You. The word hung on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it, refusing to give him the satisfaction.

Instead, she took a slow breath, trying to steady her racing heart. "A lot of things."

She finally turned to face him, her eyes locking with his.

His gaze was intense, burning through her like it always did, but tonight there was something different in his eyes.

Something she hadn't seen before. It wasn't just the cold, calculating stare of the mafia don.

No, there was something softer, something almost vulnerable lurking beneath the surface.

They stood in silence for a moment, the tension between them palpable.

Isa's breath quickened, her pulse racing as she searched his face, trying to understand what had shifted between them.

"You've changed," Luca said quietly, echoing the words he'd spoken before. But this time, there was no anger in his voice, only a strange sense of wonder.

Isa's chest tightened. She had changed, but so had he.

The distance he'd once enforced between them had started to crumble, and now they were standing too close, both caught in a pull neither of them could deny any longer.

"I'm not the girl you brought here," Isa whispered, her voice barely audible.

Luca's eyes darkened, his gaze flickering down to her lips for the briefest second before returning to her eyes. "No, you're not."

The air between them crackled with tension, the kind that made Isa's skin tingle.

She should step back, put some distance between them before she lost herself in the chaos of what was happening.

But she didn't move. She couldn't.

Luca's hand lifted, his fingers grazing her cheek so lightly that it made her breath hitch.

She should have flinched, but instead, she leaned into his touch, her heart pounding in her chest as the walls she had built to protect herself slowly began to crumble.

"You shouldn't get close to me," Luca said, his voice low and hoarse, as if the words pained him. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

Isa's throat tightened. He was right. She didn't know all the dark corners of his soul, the things he had done, the things he was capable of doing.

But she wasn't afraid of him. Not anymore. "Maybe you shouldn't get close to me either."

Luca's jaw clenched, his hand still resting on her cheek, his thumb brushing over her skin with a tenderness she hadn't expected.

"I'm dangerous, Isa."

"So am I," she whispered.

And then, before either of them could think or breathe or stop themselves, Luca's lips were on hers.

The kiss was soft at first, hesitant, like neither of them wanted to admit what was happening.

But as soon as Isa responded, it ignited something in both of them.

Luca's hand slid to the back of her neck, pulling her closer as the kiss deepened.

There was no hesitation now, no holding back. The tension that had been building between them for weeks finally snapped, releasing in a wave of heat and hunger that consumed them both.

Isa's fingers curled into the fabric of Luca's shirt, pulling him closer as she surrendered to the fire that blazed between them.

She had never been kissed like this before-so desperately, so completely, as if Luca was trying to claim every part of her with that one touch.

And maybe he was.

When they finally broke apart, both of them were breathless, their foreheads resting against each other as they tried to catch their breath.

Isa's heart pounded in her chest, her mind spinning with everything that had just happened.

Luca's eyes were dark, filled with something she couldn't quite place-desire, maybe, but also something deeper, something more dangerous.

"This shouldn't have happened," he muttered, his voice rough.

Isa swallowed, her breath still shaky. "But it did."

Luca pulled back slightly, his hand still resting on her neck, his thumb brushing the edge of her jaw. "I can't give you what you want, Isa. I can't be the man you need."

Isa's heart ached at his words, but she didn't look away. She met his gaze, her voice soft but steady. "Maybe I'm not asking you to be."

They stood there in the quiet, the weight of their kiss hanging between them.

It had changed everything, but nothing felt resolved.

If anything, it had only deepened the tension, leaving Isa more confused than ever.

But one thing was clear-whatever was happening between them, it was far from over.