Page 1 of Silent Night With Luca

ONE

Luca

The snow crunches under my boots, sharp and brittle, matching the feeling inside my chest as I weave through the crowded market. Fiamma’s dark hair flashes in the distance, a wild mess whipping around her. Ha, she thinks she can outrun me.

She can’t. A part of me admires her tenacity, but mostly I want to teach her the ultimate lesson. I’ll consider it my Christmas present to her, two weeks early.

The scent of cinnamon and pine floats in the freezing air, clashing with the adrenaline pounding through my veins. Where the the fuck did she go? She’s a slippery little vixen, I’ll give her that.

I scan the crowd, eyes narrowing as the cheerful lights of the Christmas market blur into something distant, unimportant. The only thing that matters right now is finding her.

Fiamma.

My prey.

The moment I spot the flash of her dark hair whipping around her shoulders as she cuts through a group of unsuspecting tourists, the switch in my head flips. Cold. Calculating. Focused.

I don’t even think about the people in my way. I shove a man aside, my shoulder slamming into his chest hard enough to send him sprawling. I hear his curses, feel the sting of a drink splashing across my arm, but I don’t slow down. She’s slipping away.

She’s always been fast—too fast for her own good. Wild, reckless, and a danger to herself. But not tonight. Not this time.

Tonight, I’m her danger.

“Fiamma!” My voice cuts through the air, but she doesn’t even look back. Smart. Too bad I’m smarter.

I pick up speed as the wet snow starts to seep through my leather boots. My eyes are fixed on her as she darts between the stalls, the twinkling lights and jolly music mocking me, mocking her. The holiday cheer feels like a sick joke. I don’t see the merry crowd, the brightly lit stalls. All I see is her—running like her life depends on it.

Life as she knows it does.

She has no idea what she’s running into. The alley ahead. The wrong turn she’s about to take. The danger waiting just outside the glow of the Christmas lights that act as a protection against what lurks in the shadows.

I’m not far behind when she ducks left, in between two buildings. A mistake. A deadly mistake.

I break into a sprint, heart pounding, the cold biting into my skin as I drive my body after her. She’s close now—close enough to catch. My pulse thrums in my ears, my focus narrowing, a predator on the hunt.

She’s quick, I’ll give her that. But I’m quicker. And much stronger.

The alley is dark, shadowed by the buildings that stretch up like towering giants, with hardly any light from the dark sky above.

The festive lights and sounds of the market fade behind us as we move further from the town center.

I’ve been watching her for longer than she thinks. My jobs don’t begin at the moment of capture. Iwas watching her before she even got here to Winter Haven yesterday. My recon started in Vegas a week before we left, in order to understand her habits, her movements. I’ve known who she was for years, her reputation as a wild card. But this girl can move, and fast.

I round the corner, and that’s when I see her. Trapped.

There’s nowhere left for her to go. The alley dead-ends in a narrow stretch of brick wall, the ground slick with ice, reflecting the dim light from a distant streetlamp. Her breaths come in sharp, panicked bursts as she whips around, eyes wide, like a cornered animal.

I slow down, stalking closer. “You think you can outrun me, bitch? I’m not some blowhard you can toy with like the other men in your life. And now you’ve really pissed me off, making me run through here like some kind of idiot.”

Her gaze flicks from me to the wall, panic flashing in hereyes, but she squares her shoulders, defiant to the last. “Stay the hell away from me.”

Her voice is strong, but I can hear the fear beneath it. And it only eggs me on.

“You think this is a game, Fiamma?” I take another step toward her, my voice low, barely above a growl. “I’m about to show you just how much I don’t play.”

She backs up, the wall pressing into her spine as I advance. She’s got nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.

“I said stay away,” she hisses, her voice trembling now.

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