Chapter 21

• Chapter 21: The Need to Be Alert
• Luca's world slams back into sharp focus like a slap to the face, the shock of reality jarring him from whatever momentary insanity had possessed him.
• The haze of fantasy, the alluring pull of forbidden temptation—it all dissolves in an instant, leaving nothing but cold clarity in its wake. His eyes narrow, no longer clouded with desire but square and calculating, assessing the dangerous situation he's created. The heat that had built between them just moments ago, the way her breath had hitched when his fingers traced her skin, the intoxicating softness of her underneath his touch—it all sickens him now, a weakness he cannot afford. What the hell was he thinking? How could he have allowed this madness to progress so far?