Page 13 of Tormented Hearts

Luca’s eyes softened just a fraction, but the intensity doesn’t leave him. He leans in, his forehead resting against hers, his voice low and rough. “You don’t have to be afraid of me, Phoenix.”

Phoenix’s breath hitched. How could she not be? Luca Tempo was the most dangerous man she had ever met, and yet... she couldn’t deny the way her body has responded to him. The wayher heart has betrayed her fear and fallen into the rhythm of his touch.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel,” she whispers, her voice trembling. “You... you scare me, Luca. But...”

Her voice trails off, and she bits her lip, unsure if she should say what she was really feeling. How could she admit to herself, let alone to him, that the fear wasn’t the only thing she felt? That the heat between them was undeniable, even if it terrifies her?

Luca’s fingers tilt her chin upward, forcing her to meet his gaze. “But what?” he asks softly, his voice a low rumble that sends a shiver through her.

Phoenix closes her eyes for a moment, gathering her thoughts. When she opens them again, her heart is pounding. “But I... I don’t hate you,” she finally says, her words barely more than a whisper.

Luca’s expression doesn’t change, but his grip on her tightens slightly, as if her admission has stirred something deep within him. “You should,” he says darkly, his eyes never leaving hers. “You should hate me for everything I’ve done to you.”

Phoenix shakes her head, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. “I don’t know how to hate you,” she admits, the vulnerability in her voice surprising even herself.

Luca’s gaze softens even more, but there is still a storm raging behind his eyes. He doesn’t want her to feel this way, doesn’t want her to break through the walls he has built around his heart. But Phoenix was different. She was unlike anyone he has ever met before. She wasn’t just a possession. She was something more, something dangerous to his carefully constructed life.

Luca takes a step back, pulling away from Phoenix even though every instinct in him screams to keep her close. He has spent his entire life controlling everything and everyone around him. He has learned from a young age that power meant survival, that emotions were a weakness, a liability. But Phoenix has shattered all of that.

His father had been ruthless, cruel, teaching Luca that love was a distraction, that desire was a tool to be used. Luca had believed him for so long, had built his empire on that belief. But Phoenix wasn’t just a tool. She wasn’t a means to an end. She had become something more than he had ever intended.

He didn’t want to feel this way about her. He didn’t want to care. But the truth was, he did.

Luca turned away, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He had always been in control. Of his business, his empire, his men. And now, he felt that control slipping away. Phoenix had gotten under his skin in a way no one ever had, and he didn’t know how to handle it.

He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He couldn’t afford to lose focus. Not now, with the Romero Familia breathing down his neck, waiting for a moment of weakness. And yet, Phoenix was all he could think about. She was his weakness, and it terrified him.

Phoenix watched as Luca turned away from her, his back tense, his body coiled with the kind of energy that made her heart race. She could feel the shift in him, the struggle between his desire for control and something more vulnerable that he was trying to suppress.

And she felt it too—this pull between them that she couldn’t ignore, no matter how hard she tried. It was like gravity, drawing her closer even though she knew it could destroy her.

The silence stretched between them, heavy and oppressive. Phoenix wanted to say something, to bridge the gap that had formed in the aftermath of their passion. But the words wouldn’t come. Instead, she stood there, naked and exposed, both physically and emotionally, waiting for him to make the next move.

Finally, Luca turns back to face her, his expression unreadable. His eyes are still dark with desire, but there is something else there too—a flicker of uncertainty, as though he is fighting a battle within himself.

“You don’t belong in my world, Phoenix,” Luca says, his voice low and strained. “You deserve better than this. Better than me.”

Phoenix blinks, surprised by his words. It was the last thing she had expected to hear from him. Luca Tempo, the man who had claimed her, who had made it clear that she belonged to him, was now telling her she deserved better?

“You’re the one who took me,” she says softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “You’re the one who made this choice.”

Luca’s jaw tightens, his eyes flashing with frustration. “I didn’t have a choice,” he growls, stepping closer to her. “From the moment I saw you, I knew you were mine. I can’t explain it, but... I can’t let you go.”

Phoenix’s heart pounds in her chest as his words sink in. She could see the conflict in him, the way he was torn between his possessive nature and something deeper. It scares her, but it also made her feel something she hadn’t expected…hope.

Maybe, just maybe, Luca wasn’t as unfeeling as he seemed. Maybe there was a part of him that wanted something more than control, more than power. Maybe there was a part of him that could learn to love.

She steps closer to him, her hand reaching out to rest on his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath her palm. “Then don’t let me go,” she whispers, her voice trembling with the weight of her own emotions. “But don’t push me away either.”

Luca’s gaze darkens, his hand coming up to cover hers, pressing her palm against his chest. His eyes searching hers, as though he were trying to find some kind of answer, some kind of clarity in the chaos of his emotions.

“I don’t know how to be anything else, Phoenix,” he says quietly, his voice rough. “I don’t know how to be what you need.”

Phoenix shakes her head, her eyes filled with determination. “I don’t need you to be anything else,” she says softly. “I just need you to be real with me. To stop hiding behind the walls you’ve built.”

His eyes smoulder with deep emotions as he suddenly steps forward, leaning down he picks Phoenix up against his chest. Lowering his head he takes her lips in a slow burning soul searing kiss that leaves them both breathless.

Lifting his head Luca walks towards their bedroom, it’s time for him to let Phoenix in, time to break down the walls that he keeps around his himself.