Falling for the enemy || 18+

CHAPTER 7 : PREDATOR

The next day.

In the party.

The music was dull, muted by the sound of forced laughter and half-hearted conversations. My gaze swept over the room, taking in the crowd of mafiosos in tailored suits and expensive dresses. Every face here told a story of power and deceit, but I wasn't interested in any of them. I was looking for one person.

Alessandro De Luca.

He hadn't arrived yet, but I could feel the tension simmering under the surface of the party. Everyone knew what this gathering really was-a power play. The peace was fragile, and the room was full of eyes watching, waiting to see what would happen when De Luca and I stood face to face. I was ready for it. I had spent years preparing for this moment, biding my time, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

I sipped my drink, the liquid burning as it went down, doing little to calm the storm brewing inside me. It didn't matter how many years had passed since that night. Every time I thought of my family-my father, my mother, my sister-it felt as raw as the day I'd lost them. And the man responsible for their deaths would be here any minute, parading around with the arrogance of someone who thought he had won.

But tonight wasn't about revenge. Not yet. I couldn't afford to make a move in front of so many witnesses, not when every single person here would be watching my reaction. I had to play it cool, even though my blood boiled at the thought of De Luca standing in the same room as me.

I turned toward the entrance as the doors opened, and for a split second, I forgot how to breathe.

Her.

She walked in, and the world around me seemed to fall away. The noise, the people, the weight of everything I had come here for-it all vanished in an instant. There was only her.

She was dressed in a sleek, black gown that clung to her curves in all the right places, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders like silk. Her eyes, sharp and watchful, scanned the room with a calm that didn't match the rest of the chaos around us. There was something about her that was... untouchable, like she belonged to a world just beyond reach.

I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Who was she?

It didn't take long for the answer to hit me like a punch to the gut. She was with De Luca. His daughter.

Bianca De Luca.

My pulse quickened, my thoughts scrambling to keep up with the realisation. Alessandro's daughter. Of course. She had his eyes-sharp, calculating-but there was something softer about her, something he would never have. Something I hadn't expected.

My mind raced as I watched her move through the room, her steps graceful but sure, like she had been born to navigate this world of smoke and mirrors. She had a calm confidence that drew me in, a quiet strength that I recognised all too well. It was the strength of someone who knew what it was to carry a heavy burden.

I had no business looking at her the way I was. She was the enemy's blood, tied to everything I despised. But none of that mattered in that moment. The world had shrunk down to just her, and for the first time in years, I felt something other than anger or vengeance burning in my chest.

Something dangerous.

Before I could stop myself, I started moving toward her, my heart pounding in a way I hadn't felt in a long time. The closer I got, the more I realised how reckless this was. I had come here to confront Alessandro, to hold my ground, not to be distracted by the daughter of my enemy. But I couldn't turn back. Not now.

She didn't see me at first, her attention focused on some conversation she was pretending to care about, but as I got closer, her gaze lifted and locked onto mine.

For a moment, neither of us moved. The air between us crackled with something electric, something neither of us could explain. Her eyes widened slightly, as if she felt it too, and then she blinked, her expression quickly shifting into something guarded.

Good. She knew who I was, too. Or at least, she had an idea.

I stopped a few feet away, my eyes still locked on hers. For a second, I almost forgot why I was there, why any of this mattered. It was just her. And that scared the hell out of me.

"Bianca De Luca," I said, my voice low, as I took in her face, her lips, the way her eyes flickered with suspicion and curiosity.

She tilted her head, studying me with those same eyes I had been warned about. Sharp. Calculating. But there was something else there, something deeper. "And you must be Eryx Cancio."

Her voice was like a melody, smooth and composed, but there was steel beneath it. She was prepared, just like I was, to face whatever this night would throw at us. But there was a flicker of something in her gaze, just for a moment-an acknowledgment, like she felt the pull between us too, and didn't know what to make of it.

I stepped closer, closing the distance between us, ignoring the warning bells screaming in my head. I should have walked away. I should have kept my distance, kept my focus on the real reason I was here. But I couldn't.

"And what have you heard about me?" I asked, my voice dangerously soft. I shouldn't have cared, but I did. I wanted to know how she saw me.

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Enough."

I studied her face, trying to reconcile the daughter of my enemy with the woman standing in front of me. She wasn't just De Luca's daughter, wasn't just a pawn in this twisted game of power. She was something more.

"I'm sure your father has told you all about me," I said, my tone darkening. "And I'm sure none of it was flattering."

She didn't flinch, didn't back down. "And what about you, Eryx? What stories have you heard about me?"

Her question hung in the air between us, a challenge. I could feel it, the unspoken tension pulling us closer, even though everything about this was wrong. We were on opposite sides of a war that had left both of us scarred, yet here we were, drawn to each other in a way that defied logic.

"I haven't heard enough," I replied, my voice barely a whisper now.

And for the first time in years, I wasn't thinking about revenge or power or control. I was thinking about her. About how, in a room full of enemies, she was the only one who made me feel anything.

Tomorrow, I would return to my mission. Tomorrow, I would remember who I was and what I came here to do.

But tonight, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the woman who had already begun unraveling the careful walls I had built around myself.

Bianca De Luca. The enemy's daughter. The one person I should never want.

And yet, I was already lost.