Chapter 25: From the Other Side
Luca hadn't expected to feel... small.
When he'd left the gym and found three men standing by the exit—tall, calm, quiet—he'd smiled, ready for some dumb confrontation.
But what followed wasn't fists or shouting.
It was worse.
"Hey," the dark-haired one said, stepping forward. "Luca, right?"
Luca nodded, cocky. "Do I know you?"
"You don't. But we know what you did to Mia."
That stopped him cold.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"We do," said the one in the leather jacket. "We just want to know—do you like being touched without permission?"
Luca blinked. "What?"
The third man, the one with the sharp blue eyes, leaned in slightly. "You like surprises? People getting in your space?"
The smirks were gone now. Their eyes burned cold. Calm. Collected. Dangerous.
Luca took a step back.
"This is insane."
"No," said the tall one. "Insane is thinking you could keep walking through life, making people feel unsafe, and never once feel what it's like on the other side."
They didn't touch him. Didn't raise their voices. But their presence—solid, certain, unshaken—made his skin crawl.
Luca left without another word, heart hammering in his chest.
Now, days later, he still thought about it.
Their words echoed.
Do you like being touched when you don't want it?
Do you like being watched?
He remembered Mia's eyes when she'd looked at him—wide with something more than recognition.
It wasn't fear. It was strength.
And he hated it.
But something inside him, something small and cracked, wondered: What if they were right? What if that moment was just a taste of what he'd done to someone else?
For the first time in years, he couldn't sleep.
And for the first time ever... he didn't feel proud of who he'd been.