She told herself just one, just one more drink and maybe it would fill the emptiness she felt inside. Avery couldn't believe Jaiden left her for Nikki. He said she was just an assistant and nothing existed between them but it was a lie… all a lie and the funniest part was that she knew it was.

Most times when Avery called his line, Nikki would pick up…saying he was busy doing more important things and that she was disturbing his life. Each time she complained , he would back Nikki up, yelling at Avery for being immature and too serious.

She walked in on him fucking Nikki in his office one day and he didn't even apologize. He blamed Abery for starving him and making him look elsewhere but she was on her period and had severe cramps.

“It was just three days” she sobbed but he rolled his eyes and smeared at her.

Now he officially broke things after four years of being together. She cried, begged and knelt outside his Logistics firm (the same one she gave him the money to start up) for days but not only did he ignore her, he paid people to push her out.

“It was all my fault though, I didn't love him enough. I should have done more, said more, I should have willingly accepted him cheating on me than voicing my pain and now I lost him…Gosh I love him so much I feel like I would die”. Avery said to herself.

Then before she knew it, she was in a new country, an underground club drowning in alcohol and busting her ass on the dance floor. Already two drinks past her limit, her laughter sharp and unsteady as she lifted my arms, hips rolling to the rhythm. The short red dress clung to her light skin, too short that her butt was almost visible…yep, she was going all out .

But what she didn't know was that there was someone on the top floor, watching her intently.

Luca leaned against the glass rail of the VIP section. A loosened tie hung around his neck, his white shirt rolled at the sleeves. He didn’t move, didn’t even blink, as his gaze remained fixed on her below. People passed in front of him, shouted greetings and tried to catch his attention but none of it reached him, he didn't care about anything or anyone else.

She swayed, smiling to myself, eyes half-closed. A stranger slid up behind her— mischievous ,cocky, grinning with too-white teeth. He offered her a drink and she took it. He leaned in to say something, his hot breath on her ears.

“You look so good, mind if I dance with you?”

Avery smiled, turned her back to him and started grinding against his body . He held her waist, pulling her closer and she could already feel his hard dick pressing on her. They remained like that for what felt like 5 seconds before she heard the noise of someone forcibly pushing through the crowd.

The air behind her shifted, colder somehow. Avery turned just as a fist came from nowhere—one brutal hit that sent the man she’d been dancing with flying to a table. The crash silenced half the club. Shattered bottles rolled onto the floor, liquid spilling like dark oil.

She froze, blinking at the tall figure now standing in front of her.

He was… fuming , face red hot with eyes that looked like he was ready to murder anybody. Broad shoulders, sharp lines, blood from his knuckles smeared across his cuff, but his voice was calm when he spoke.

“Take care of him,” he said, not looking away from Avery.

Two men appeared out of crowd—security, maybe his. They hauled the groaning stranger off the broken table.

“No one touches her except me.” He growled.

Avery's stomach dropped. “What the hell—”

Before she could finish, his hand wrapped around her wrist, firm and tight. He pulled her through the stunned crowd and towards the exit.

“Hey let me go!” she shouted, stumbling on her heels. “What’s your problem? You can’t just—”

He didn’t answer until they burst into the cool night. Neon lights from the club painted his jaw in red and blue, his expression dark and unreadable.

She struggled hard and finally released herself —though he was the one that let her go but he wouldn't have had to if he hadn't dragged her out.

“Who the fuck are you?” she snapped. “What makes you think you can just touch me like that? And why did you hit him?”

For a second, he said nothing. Then his voice came quiet , a deep masculine tone.

“Avery, what were you doing?”

She blinked. “How—how do you know my name?”

“You were dancing with a man you don’t know. He could’ve hurt you. Do you know how dangerous that is?”

Her jaw fell open, shock cutting through the alcohol effect. “The only person who could hurt me right now is you! How do you even know who I am? What are you—some kind of stalker? Kidnapper? Murderer?”

He exhaled slowly, the muscles in his jaw flexing. “You’re drunk. Let’s just take you home.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” she turned to storm off, but he caught me again, this time sweeping her off my feet before she could scream. She kicked, pounded at his back, cursed every word she knew, but he didn’t flinch. His shoulders were solid as rock.

A black Rolls Royce parked right in front of them. The driver opened the back door without a word. Luca set her down inside, buckled the seat belt before she could unclip it, and slid in beside her.

“Where to, sir?” the driver asked.

“Take us to Noah’s place,” Luca replied.

“ That's impossible…how do you know Noah? I’m not going anywhere with you…Scum!” She yelled . “Let me out! I’ll call the cops! You hear me? I’ve been kidnapped!”

He turned to her then, one hand sliding under her chin, forcing her eyes up to his.

“I don’t care who you call Avery,” he said, voice low enough that it almost blended with the hum of the engine. “You belong to me and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

His expression softened instantly as his palm cupped her cheek “ I lost you once…I'm never letting you go again”

“You have got the wrong person, I have never met you before” I gave him a fake drunken smile.

“ I see your face every single day, you are always on my mind. How can I be wrong?”

Her breath caught. The arrogance. The calmness. The certainty. Who was this man?

She pressed herself back into the seat, anger and confusion warring inside her. It finally dawned on her that there was no escape, she was going to die in one of the most expensive cars but her only regret was that she didn't get to see Jaiden one last time.

“No,” she whispered , voice trembling. “I don’t want to go home.”

He turned slightly, one brow raised. “Then where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know,” she muttered, looking away. “Anywhere… just no home.”

She felt his eyes on her again, that same unreadable weight. When she dared glance back, his expression hadn’t softened.

“Who the hell are you?” she asked quietly but he didn’t answer.

Luca had come to clear his head cause he knew he'd be seeing her again after years of them being apart. Noah called saying she was back in the city, she had a hard time with her ex boyfriend and wanted to get away from everything.

“Terminate every single contract we have with that lowlife…how dare he hurt her!” Luca commanded.

“Yes sir” Williams, his assistant, bowed before exiting the VIP section.

He brought his half filled glass to his mouth, just about to resume drinking when he saw someone that looked like her push her way to the dance floor .

Luca paused midway, heart pounding “ Avery??”.

Made his way to the rail and it was her, wearing a short dress, dancing and swaying to the music. Fuck, she was still so beautiful…so hot. But before he knew it, a random dude walked up to her and she started dancing on him

Luca’s eyes darkened.

His men noticed.

“Boss?” one murmured.

Luca didn’t speak. He wouldn't let anyone touch her.

Now she sat beside him in the back of the car, head pressed to the window, mascara smudged, breaths uneven. The city lights flash over her skin, turning her into something soft and breakable.

The driver doesn’t speak. He knows better.

Luca forced his voice to stay calm,quiet. Controlled.

“Keep driving.”

His hands rests on his thighs. Not on her cause he knew that if he touched her now, he would never stop.

She mutters something under her breath.

“…should’ve been enough… I loved him… why wasn’t it enough…”

The name she chokes out—Jaiden’s name makes something sharp twist through Luca's ribs.

If he had stayed—

If she had known who he was—

She never would have cried for another man.

He looked at her “ Since you don't want to go home, I'll take you to mine”

“Tired?” He asked

She doesn’t answer. She’s drifting in and out.

Good, he doesn't need her chanting another guy's name.

The car pulls into his private building, a large modern mansion.

He carries her out of the car and inside.

He lays her gently on his bed and tucks in a loose strand of her coffee brown hair at the back of her ear.

Turns to leave, forcing himself to walk away.As he stands, her hand grabs his wrist.

She whispers,low “Don’t leave.”

He freezes and turns to face her “Avery”.

She seems to be muttering something and when he leans in closer, she raised her head, giving him a light kiss on his lips.

Luca's chest tightened, he held the bedspread tightly.

“Avery…you are drunk” he managed to say but she kissed him again.

He couldn't hold himself back anymore, she was right there in front of him, every part of her.

His restraint snapped.

Luca’s hand slid to the back of her neck, claiming her. He kissed her back, slow at first, tasting the warmth of her breath, the faint sweetness of alcohol and heartbreak. Then the kiss deepened—hungry, aching, years of wanting and never touching finally breaking loose.

Avery let out a small, soft sound—barely a whimper but it destroyed him.

His lips left hers only to press against her jaw, her cheek, the corner of her mouth, then down her throat.

“Do you know,” Luca breathed against her skin, voice low, rough, shaking,

“I’ve waited for this?”

His fingers traced the line of her waist, almost trembling.

Avery’s breath caught, her back arching just enough to press closer.

She couldn’t speak her breaths came out in soft, broken little exhales.

Luca’s mouth moved lower, planting kisses on her collarbone. Avery’s head tilted instinctively, exposing more of her throat to him.

She didn’t even realize she did it.

“You might not remember me but your body does” Luca said

Her body reacted before her mind did—her fingers gripping his shirt, pulling, needing more. A small sound escaped her lips—a breathy, unguarded moan—and Luca paused, eyes lifting to hers.

God,that sound…

Her eyes were half-opened, hazy, wanting.

“Good girl…” Luca smirked

Her breath stuttered.

Luca lowered his forehead to hers, breathing hard.

“You have no idea what you do to me,” he whispered, voice cracking.

His hands slid under her thighs, lifting her gently, guiding her upward so her body aligned with his.

He kissed her again—this one deeper, fuller, consuming.

Avery gasped against his mouth, the sound soft but desperate—her hands in his hair, holding him there.

Her moans were quiet but raw.

Luca’s breathing turned unsteady, his voice rough against her lips:

“I could spend the rest of my life like this…

worshipping you…”