Elena sat at her desk, fingers hovering over the keyboard, her mind somewhere far from the reports she was supposed to be drafting. The memory of Luca's hand on her waist, his breath warm against her neck, refused to leave her. The intensity of their closeness had shaken her more than she cared to admit. She thought she could handle this. She thought she could keep their relationship strictly professional, but Luca was making that impossible.

Since that night when things had almost tipped into something dangerous, Elena had been avoiding him. She hadn't exactly planned it, but it had become second nature. She took the longer way around the office to avoid passing by his door. She was always "too busy" to have lunch at the same time as him. And every time he asked if she needed help with something, she made a quick excuse and disappeared before he could push further.

But Luca wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what she was doing.

He had grown more frustrated, more persistent. And every time she felt his gaze on her, like a tangible weight pressing down on her shoulders, it stirred up emotions she didn't want to feel.

Now, as the sun set outside the office, casting a warm golden glow across the walls, Elena knew she couldn't hide forever. She had a meeting with Luca in a few minutes—one she couldn't dodge. Her stomach churned at the thought of being alone with him, especially after their last encounter.

The sharp knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. She knew who it was even before his voice broke the silence.

"Elena," Luca called out, his voice firm but tinged with something deeper, something that unsettled her. "Can we talk?"

She swallowed hard, mentally preparing herself. There was no way out this time.

"Come in," she replied, keeping her voice neutral as she tried to steady her nerves.

Luca entered the room, his presence filling the space immediately. He closed the door behind him, his eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that made her heart race. He wasn't angry, not exactly, but there was something else in his expression—frustration, confusion, maybe even hurt.

"We need to talk," Luca said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Elena nodded, glancing away from him to avoid those piercing green eyes. "I know."

"Why are you avoiding me?" he asked bluntly, cutting right to the heart of it. "Ever since the night we—" He hesitated, his voice dropping, as if the memory of their almost-kiss lingered as strongly in his mind as it did in hers. "You've been distant."

"I'm not avoiding you," Elena lied, knowing full well how weak her excuse sounded. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks under his gaze. "I've just been busy with work, that's all."

Luca sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Don't do that, Elena. Don't lie to me. We both know something's changed between us."

She didn't know how to respond. It was true, of course, but admitting it out loud would mean facing the truth she'd been running from.

He stepped closer, closing the distance between them in an instant. She could feel his presence like a magnet, pulling her in even when her mind screamed at her to keep her distance.

"Elena," Luca's voice softened, becoming almost pleading. "Talk to me. If you want space, I'll give you space. But don't just shut me out. Not after everything we've been through."

Her heart twisted painfully at the vulnerability in his words. He was right. After everything they had shared—both in the past and recently—she owed him more than silence. But it was hard. She had spent so long guarding herself against the pain of their history, the heartbreak of losing him the first time.

Luca was watching her carefully, and she could see the conflict in his eyes—the desire to reach out, to close the distance between them, but also the fear of pushing her too far.

"I don't know what you want from me, Luca," she finally whispered, her voice barely audible.

"I want you to be honest," he said without hesitation. "I want to know what you're thinking—what you're feeling."

Elena bit her lip, her hands curling into fists in her lap. How could she explain the storm of emotions that churned inside her every time they were in the same room? How could she tell him that, despite everything, she still felt that same magnetic pull toward him? But she also couldn't deny the pain that had come from loving him once, and how terrified she was of feeling that pain again.

"Luca, this isn't easy for me," she began slowly, choosing her words carefully. "You can't just come back after all this time and expect everything to be like it was. We're not those people anymore."

"I know," he said quietly, his voice strained. "But I also know that what we had—it was real. You can't just pretend that didn't mean something to you."

Elena looked up at him sharply, her chest tightening. "I'm not pretending. It did mean something. It meant everything. But that doesn't change the fact that you left, Luca. You walked away, and I had to pick up the pieces."

"I didn't want to leave," he shot back, his voice filled with regret. "But I didn't have a choice. My family—"

"I know," she interrupted, her voice rising in frustration. "Your family needed you, and I understand that. But it doesn't change what happened. You left, and I had to move on."

He stared at her, the tension between them thickening like a fog. There was so much unsaid between them, so much left unresolved. Elena felt the weight of it pressing down on her, threatening to suffocate her.

"I never stopped loving you," Luca finally said, his voice soft but firm. "Not for a second. I thought about you every day I was gone."

Elena's breath hitched in her throat, her heart pounding in her chest. She had waited so long to hear those words, but now that he was saying them, they didn't bring the comfort she had once hoped for. They only reopened old wounds.

"You don't get to say that now," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "You don't get to come back and say you never stopped loving me when you weren't here."

Luca flinched at her words, and for a moment, they stood there in silence, the weight of their shared history hanging between them.

"I'm here now," he said, his voice hoarse. "I'm trying to make things right."

Elena shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "It's not that simple, Luca. I'm not the same person I was back then. Neither are you."

He stepped closer, his hand reaching out to gently cup her face, his thumb brushing away a stray tear that had escaped down her cheek. The warmth of his touch sent a shiver down her spine, and despite everything, she leaned into him, craving the comfort of his touch even as her mind screamed at her to pull away.

"I don't care how much time has passed," Luca whispered, his voice filled with raw emotion. "I still love you, Elena. I always will. And I'll wait as long as it takes for you to believe that."

Elena closed her eyes, her heart aching with the weight of his words. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to trust him again. But the fear of getting hurt, of opening herself up to that kind of pain again, kept her walls firmly in place.

"I need time," she finally whispered, her voice barely audible.

Luca nodded, his hand lingering on her cheek for just a moment longer before he pulled away. "Take all the time you need," he said softly. "I'm not going anywhere."

As he turned and walked out of the office, leaving her alone with her thoughts, Elena felt a pang of longing deep in her chest. Despite everything, a part of her still wanted him. But the scars of their past were hard to forget, and the future felt uncertain.