Page 101 of Lunar Crest University

Clutching my phone tightly, I hold it to my chest and heave a deep sigh. I can feel Luca look over at me from the driver’s seat, but he doesn’t say anything. He just places his large hand on my thigh and gives it a gentle squeeze. I’m trying so hard not to dwell on everything too much, but I can’t help it. It feels like everything's just falling apart on me.

It’s all slipping through my fingers, no matter how hard I try to hold on.

I’m so absorbed with my own thoughts, I don’t even realize we’re parked outside of Luca’s place until he turns the car off. Blinking rapidly as I shake my head, hoping to expel some of the stress in my brain, I look up to see it’s a wholehouse.

It’s not huge, but it’s beautiful, nonetheless. It’s a little, light-colored brick home with dark roofing and dark accents to match. Dark wooden doors, dark wooden window panes, and a dark wooden garage. Shrouded in green shrubs planted in black mulch and a vast wood of tall trees behind the house, it’s literally perfect—warm, cozy, and all the things I hadn’t expected Luca Serrano to live in at all.

“This is your house?” I ask, stunned.

“It’s small.”

“It’sbeautiful.”

He squeezes my thigh one last time before climbing out of the car, rounding the hood, and opening my door for me. I take his hand as he pulls me from the passenger seat, closing the door behind me as he leads me toward the porch and up the steps.

The sun has set, casting Lunar Crest in the dusk and looming shadows as the moon illuminates the sky. The chilly air blows the fallen leaves around, and it’s the only thing I hear as Luca unlocks his front door and pushes inside. One second, I’m following him into the dark house, watching as he flicks on the nearest light, and the next, the door slams shut as someone wraps their arm around my throat from behind.

My hands immediately come up to grasp onto the arm that’s cutting off my airway, but it’s short-lived as they twist at lightning speed to throw my body into the entryway table. A shriek leaves my lips on impact, and my head smacks into the wall as everything goes crashing to the ground along with me. My left temple throbs as I try to look around, but my eyes can’t seem to catch up with my movement as I blink meticulously. There’s a soaring pain that pulses through my head as I groan, weakly pushing myself from the floor.

The glint of the knife in my attacker’s hand catches my attention, my eyes widening at a man I’ve never seen before in my life.

Just as the fear takes root in my veins, Luca’s deep growl rumbles in my ears as he lunges forward, grasping the stranger by the throat and slamming him so hard into the wall, the picture frame hanging there falls and shatters. His other hand blocks the knife swinging in his direction, smashing that into the wall too as he yanks the blade from our attacker’s hand and presses it into his neck.

Leaning toward him, Luca’s face is inches away as he grits out, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I wince as I manage to stand, clamoring back into the corner as I put my hands over my ears. My heart is trying to escape my body as I watch Luca choke the guy until his face is almost purple. I’ve never seen him this angry—the veins in his neck look like they could burst, and he’s shaking with rage as he positionsthe knife directly under the guy’s jawline. One small move, and the guy would be dead.

Shivers roll down my spine at the thought.

The guy tries to respond to Luca’s question, but he sputters from the grip Luca has around his throat. Loosening his fingers slightly, he cocks his head as he raises a brow. “I said, what thefuckare you doing here? Hmm? Spit it out.”

“You know,” the guy wheezes, his face red and pricking with sweat.

“I don’t think I do,” Luca says, a humorless laugh leaving him. “Maybe you should enlighten me.”

Something is definitely,definitelywrong with me. Maybe I’ve officially lost my marbles, because watching him like this is lighting a fire in my belly that’s damn near lethal. My nausea and hormones are battling it out inside me, but not for the reasons one would think.

What the fuck iswrongwith me?

“You’re dead,” the guy spits, gritting his teeth. “She’s dead too. So kill me,fucker, but you’re both still dead.”

My knees wobble as I process his words.

You’re dead. She’s dead too.

“If he was so confident, he’d be here, not you.”

“He wantsher,” the guy growls, his dark eyes darting toward me.

“Don’t look at her.” Luca twists the knife until the tip is digging into the guy’s neck. “Look at me. Look at her again, and I’ll break your goddamn nose.”

“Why don’t you just fucking kill me alr?—”

Luca shuffles the knife in his hand so quickly, my eyes don’t even see what he’s doing before he plunges it into the guy’s stomach. A shuddery breath leaves my mouth as I shrink further into the corner, my hands still covering my ears as my blood runs cold. His groans of pain are muffled by my palms, but notenough. A tear falls down my cheek as I stare at Luca in utter horror.

“She’smine,” Luca growls, taking the knife out and stabbing him again. “He can’t have her. No one can have her.”

My body flinches with every stab, and my stomach twists horridly as I see the blood dripping onto his wooden floor.

---