The photo still sat on her nightstand.
She couldn't throw it away.
Couldn't stop staring at it.
Luca. Covered in blood. Eyes blank. Hands cold.
A killer.
But when she closed her eyes at night…
It wasn't fear she felt.
It was heat.
---
Stay away from him.
The woman's warning kept replaying in her head.
But so did his voice in the alley.
His stare in the café.
His touch when he handed her that notebook.
The man in the photo and the man she met didn't match.
One was a monster.
The other made her heart race.
What if they were the same?
---
That evening, Elena tried to distract herself. She lit candles. Took a shower. Put on soft music.
She reached for her coat… and froze.
The necklace.
It wasn't where she left it.
It was hanging on the mirror now — neatly, perfectly.
Someone had moved it.
She hadn't been alone.
She backed away slowly, heart thudding.
Then she saw it:
Another photo, tucked into the corner of the mirror.
Her.
Taken from inside the apartment.
She covered her mouth to stop the scream.
Behind it, a note written in dark red ink:
> "I see you, Elena."
"Even when you forget I'm watching."
"You're not safe. But you're mine."
Her knees nearly buckled.
---
Across the city, Luca poured himself a drink.
He could see the fear in her eyes.
But beneath it… a flicker of something else.
She was trembling.
Not just from fear. From feeling.
She wouldn't run.
She was already too deep.
And she didn't even know the worst part yet.