The past few days had been a blur—meetings, negotiations, threats that needed silencing. I'd been caught up with work. Not the kind that could be handed off. The kind that spilled blood if left unattended.
But now… I was free.
And the silence on the other end of the line was louder than any gunshot I'd ever heard.
I tried calling her.
Once.Twice.Three times.
Busy.
A part of me told myself not to overthink it. She's probably just with her friends. Laughing, dancing, teasing… That smile of hers lighting up the room. But the other part of me—the one the world feared—was already sharpening its edge.
I waited. Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen. Her phone still didn't ring.
Something twisted in my chest. Concern.
That feeling was foreign to me before she came into my life. Before her soft hands touched a man like me and didn't flinch. Before she kissed my sins and whispered comfort into my nightmares.
I didn't like feeling this way.
So I did what I was trained to do. What came naturally.
I tracked her.
It took less than a minute to pull her live location. My system was secure. Untraceable. Illegal, if you asked the law. But I was the law where I came from.
Selene's penthouse.
My jaw clenched.
I grabbed my keys, slid the gun into the back of my waistband—just in case—and headed straight to her.
The roads blurred. My mind raced faster than the engine. Was she okay? Why hadn't she picked up? Was someone watching her? Was someone watching me through her?
By the time I reached Selene's building, I had already thought of six different scenarios and five different threats. None of them were allowed to touch her. No one.
Not while I breathed.
I entered the private elevator. The guard tried to ask who I was. One look—just one—and he backed off, nodding stiffly. Smart man.
Penthouse floor. I didn't knock.
I pressed the bell once. Then again. I didn't care if they thought I was overreacting.
She was mine to protect.
And if anyone had a problem with that?
They could take it up with the devil I buried deep inside me.
I sighed when I found her on the rooftop…
Laughing.
Her head tilted back, that soft, musical laugh echoing under the open sky. She was with her friends—Selene, Ariella, Iris—lounging around like queens in a palace. They had drinks in their hands, snacks sprawled on a table, and absolutely no care in the world.
And there she was… my chaos wrapped in moonlight, my peace wrapped in noise.
Wearing that flowy pastel sundress I liked, her hair dancing with the breeze. Her eyes crinkled as she laughed at something Selene whispered. She looked untouched by the world I came from. And for a second—I wanted to stay in the shadows and watch. Just watch her be her.
But that wouldn't be me.
That wouldn't be Lukas Volkoff.
I stepped out into the open. My boots hit the rooftop floor with a subtle thud, and her laughter paused mid-sentence. Her eyes met mine.
A heartbeat passed.Then another.
I watched as the smile slowly faded from her lips—not out of fear, no—but like she'd just been caught.
"Lukas?" she said, startled, the glass in her hand frozen mid-air.
"Oh sh*t," Ariella muttered under her breath."I told you he'd track her," Iris added with a grin.Selene didn't even pretend to be surprised. "Took him long enough."
My girl blinked at me.
"You… tracked me?"
I didn't say anything. I didn't need to. The answer was written all over my face.
She stood up slowly, brushing her dress down, walking toward me like I wasn't radiating silent rage and concern all at once.
"I was with friends," she said softly, almost like an apology. "I just didn't check my phone."
I nodded. "I know."
"But you still came?"
I looked at her, my voice low. "You weren't answering. What else did you expect me to do?"
She opened her mouth to reply—But Ariella, with her usual flair, decided to ruin the moment.
"Awww, look at them! Our brooding mafia man came running!"
"Shut up, Ari," Adeline hissed without turning around, her cheeks already flushed.
I stared at her for a moment longer before stepping closer, lowering my head just enough for only her to hear."Next time… just text me. I don't do well with silence."
Her expression softened. Her fingers brushed mine gently.
"I missed you too."
She looked up at me, all 5'4 of her trying to look serious, her brows furrowed and lips slightly pouted. And here I was—6'3, a walking storm of leather and silence, trying not to melt under her gaze.
Small. Fiery. Mine.
Her hand barely reached my chest as she pressed it there, like she could hold me in place if I ever tried to leave. Like she could anchor me when I'd been drifting for years.
"You didn't have to come all the way here," she mumbled.
I let out a low chuckle, brushing her hair away from her face. "You think I was going to sit still while you disappeared off the grid?"
"Lukas, I was with friends—"
"You're always with people," I interrupted, softer than I meant to be. "But I'm never not watching."
Her eyes widened a little at that. I didn't mean it to sound possessive. Okay, maybe I did. But in a world where danger lurked in the shadows of my name, I couldn't afford to be careless—not with her.
Then, rising on her toes, she leaned close—barely brushing her lips against my jaw—and whispered, "You really tracked me all the way here just to remind me you're tall, overprotective, and crazy?"
I smirked. "And you love every bit of it."
The girls behind us were definitely watching, trying not to squeal. Ariella let out a dramatic sigh. "Can someone please lock them in a room already?"
Selene muttered, "I give them ten minutes before they forget we exist."
I leaned down again, this time letting my forehead rest against hers. "Next time you ignore my calls, I'm kidnapping you."
She giggled, soft and warm. "Then I'll keep ignoring them just to see how far you'll go."
My little menace.