Don't Touch

-24-

"I'm taking you to Sean's."

Luca picked up Syd and carried her to his car, laying her down in the backseat while he went up front to drive. Syd was still disoriented from being thrown around the vehicle. "Thank you," she muttered, but he didn't answer. He was infuriated that she even put herself in the position to get kidnapped and she was lucky that he was in the area on his way to Gina's when Sean called.

Syd turned around to face the back of the seat and cried silently as she processed what just happened. She felt stupid about making the naive decision to walk home alone so late armed with nothing but pepper spray that she didn't even use because she was so panicked she forgot about it. Stress began to come over her knowing that Dmitry made his boldest move yet against her family. And she was flooded with embarrassment that Simone Davidson nearly got herself kidnapped.

When the car stopped, Syd looked up out the window and saw that they were outside of Sean's building. She wiped her tears and sat up to get out of the car. Luca was silent, and with the agitated expression on his face, Syd didn't bother speaking to him, though she was confused about why he seemed particularly upset. The tension in the elevator as they ascended Sean's building was so thick, it was nearly suffocating.

As soon as the elevator opened to Sean's penthouse, Syd rushed to her room in his place to vomit more, then brush her teeth and wash her face. Some of the plastic had come off her arm in the fiasco and she peeled the rest of it off to clean her tattoo before coming back out.

Luca was leaning against the kitchen counter scrolling through his phone and Sean was nowhere to be found.

Syd walked over and sat on the counter across from him. "Wait. W- Where's Sean?" She asked. Her voice still shaky.

"Organizing payback for what happened tonight," he replied coldly without looking up at her. "I wish we could just fucking kill the figlio di putana."

"Oh, okay..." Syd responded awkwardly. "Uh... Thank you for saving me."

"Yeah," Luca scoffed. "I shouldn't have had to in the first place. Why were you out alone and unarmed?"

Syd glared at him, offended at his tone. "Okay, I appreciate you saving me, but I also don't need that attitude."

Luca cut his eyes up at her and the anger inside of him only got worse. How could she be so fucking careless? He thought to himself as he matched her glare. "No, this is the fucking tone you've earned," he scolded. "A person in your position in the middle of conflict with another family walking at night alone without any protection?" He shook his head. "Your ass is lucky I happened to be up there. Sean called me panicking and Frank ended up getting in an accident trying to speed over to you."

Syd gasped. "Are they okay?! Frank and Char?"

"Fuck if I know. I'm talking about you," Luca continued. "Don't you dare pull some-"

"Hold up," Syd raised her hand and interrupted him. She had let his first rant go because he did save her, but when she realized he was going to continue lecturing her, she knew she needed to put on her Simone Davidson character. "The fuck are you lecturing me for? In fact, you can go now." She shewed him.

Luca grew angrier at Syd trying dismiss him after he saved her life because she did something stupid. Images of what could've happened to her flashed through his mind and he was furious. He took the few steps toward her, standing between her legs and grabbing the wrist of the hand that she waved as he moved his face dangerously close to hers. Syd froze at the intensity of his gaze and the feeling of his grip tight around her wrist.

"I'm not done," he rumbled, sending a shiver down Syd's spine with the way his already deep voice grew even deeper and full of authority. "Don't you dare pull some shit like that again. Is that understood?"