Love,Written In Ruins-Chapter 72: Tell Me The Rest

Eloise looked at him, seeing the predator rising to the surface, and felt a strange surge of calm. She reached out, her fingers grazing his hand, and turned to the trembling maid.

​"Thank you, Mary," Eloise said softly, her voice steady despite the throb in her jaw. "You’ve done enough. You can go now."

​Mary didn’t need to be told twice. She curtsied so low she nearly tripped and vanished into the shadows of the hallway like a ghost fleeing the dawn.

​Once they were alone, Eloise didn’t let the silence fester. She reached down and pulled Luciano from his kneeling position, guiding him to sit on the velvet sofa beside her. He moved like a puppet with tensed wires, his body vibrating with a restrained, kinetic energy. She reached for the small, elegant box she had placed on the coffee table earlier—the one filled with the best of her day’s labor.

​"I reserved this especially for you," she said, her voice a soothing balm meant to pull him back from the edge. "I know how much you like sweet desserts, and these are the first of my new venture."

She opened the box, revealing a row of decadent chocolate muffins, their tops dusted with a fine shimmer of cocoa and gold leaf. The scent of high-quality cacao and melted butter wafted through the air, momentarily battling the scent of ozone and anger.

​Luciano didn’t even look at the box. He took it from her hands and placed it on the table with a firm, final thud. His gaze never left her face, tracing the angry contours of the bruise.

​"We are not changing the topic, Eloise," he said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "Who did that to you? And don’t you dare tell me it was a bee. Or a trip. Or a clumsy accident. The ’mosquito’ incident was a very special case—a moment of my own lack of restraint that I am still atoning for. But this?" He reached out, his thumb hovering just millimeters from her skin. "This has to be dealt with. What happened? Don’t lie to me."

​Eloise looked down at her fingers, twisted in her lap. She felt the weight of the De La Vega legacy in the room, the cold reality of the world she had chosen to step into.

​"I wasn’t going to lie to you," she whispered. She looked up, her eyes meeting his with a spark of defiance. "Well... Maya happened. Apparently, she decided that being told where she is allowed to enter wasn’t enough of a challenge. She decided to enter where she is strictly forbidden."

​Luciano’s eyes narrowed, his posture sharpening like a blade. "Don’t tell me—"

​"Yes," Eloise interrupted, a grim sort of satisfaction coloring her tone. "She entered our room. Our private space. She stood there and insulted me, insulted the house, and spoke as if she already owned the place. So, I threw her out. Literally. I dragged her to the hall and showed her the door."

​She looked at Luciano, expecting a lecture on security or perhaps a cold rebuke for getting her hands dirty. Instead, she found him smirking. It wasn’t a kind smile; it was the dark, appreciative look of a man watching a cub grow its first set of claws.

​"What’s with that look?" she asked, her brow furrowing.

​Luciano simply gestured for her to continue, the smirk still playing on his lips. "Go on, Paloma. Tell me the rest."

​Eloise was wary of that look—it felt like he was seeing a side of her she hadn’t quite admitted to herself yet. "Apparently, having the Davises as a backbone allows you to believe you are untouchable. She told me I was a placeholder. She told me Marcia was the real queen. And then... she slapped me."

​The smirk vanished instantly. Luciano’s jaw clenched so hard she heard the bone creak. The air in the room grew thin, the pressure rising until her ears popped. But before he could stand, before he could roar, she placed a hand on his chest.

​"I handled it," she said firmly. "I didn’t wait for you. I had Marcos force her to kneel in the courtyard with two heavy bags of flour on her head for five hours. And then, I told him to throw her in whatever basement or hole you keep disobedient people in. I told him she is no longer needed here."

​Luciano stared at her for a long beat. The silence stretched, thick and heavy. Then, slowly, the tension in his shoulders began to dissipate, replaced by a dark, shimmering pride.

​"Look at you," he murmured, his voice laced with an unsettling admiration. "Adjusting so well to my world. Brilliant. Your method of punishment is... poetic. Labor as a penance for the lazy. Physical weight for the spiritually arrogant. I like it."

​He reached for the box on the table, flipping the lid open. The scent of dark chocolate and sea salt wafted up. "And I heard you entered into a partnership today. A barista. Congratulations on your new business."

​Eloise blinked, surprised by the sudden shift. "You heard?"

​"I hear everything in this city, Eloise. Especially when it involves you." He took out a soft chocolate muffin, the center still slightly molten. "But do you know the most delicious part of this story? Your new business partner, Ethan... he is no other than Marcia Davis’s ex-boyfriend. The man she destroyed to climb the social ladder."

​Eloise’s heart skipped. She felt a chill run down her spine. "Marcia’s ex? I... I had no idea. I just liked his coffee."

​"Let’s celebrate, Eloise," Luciano said, his voice dropping into a purr. He took a bite of the muffin, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment as the sugar hit his tongue. "You’ve managed to strike the Davises twice in one day without even trying. You took their spy, and you took their victim."

​Seeing her stunned expression, he let out a dry, short laugh. "Oh, I had the same look you’re having now when Ian told me. It really is a small, vengeful world, isn’t it?"

​He broke off a piece of the muffin and held it to her lips. "Eat. You need the energy for what comes next."

​Eloise leaned in to take the bite, but as she chewed, the movement of her jaw made her wince in pain. The bruise was deep, the swelling making it hard to open her mouth fully.

​Luciano’s expression darkened instantly. He set the muffin down and reached out, his fingers incredibly gentle as he wiped a stray crumb from her lips. He didn’t pull his hand away. He brought his thumb to his own mouth, tasting her, his eyes locked on her injured cheek. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

​The intimacy of the gesture was suffocating. It wasn’t romantic; it was a promise. A blood pact made over chocolate and silk.

​"You did well today, Paloma," he whispered, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw. "You showed them you have teeth. You showed them you belong at my side."

​He stood up, the shadows of the room seeming to rise with him, lengthening until he looked like a giant against the firelight. He adjusted his cuffs, the cold, lethal businessman returning in place of the indulgent fiancé.

​"But the time for flour bags is over," he said, his voice like a guillotine blade dropping. "She put her hand on your face. She left a mark on what is mine."

​He turned toward the door, his silhouette sharp and unforgiving.

​"Well," Luciano said, and the air seemed to leave the room with him. "I guess it’s time I kill Maya."

​Eloise sat on the sofa, the half-eaten muffin in her hand, watching him go. She should have been horrified. She should have screamed for him to stop, to show mercy, to be the man she hoped he could be. But as she touched her swollen cheek and remembered the venom in Maya’s voice, she found herself staying silent.