***

Luca stepped onto the university campus, the weight of Damien's presence still lingering despite the physical distance between them. Two of Damien’s men trailed behind him discreetly, their watchful eyes scanning every passerby. It was suffocating, but Luca had expected nothing less. Damien had only agreed to let him return to school under strict conditions—constant surveillance, no unnecessary interactions, and absolutely no mention of his life outside these walls.

The moment he walked into the lecture hall, familiar faces turned toward him, some with curiosity, others with concern. Luca hadn’t been around much, and whispers had already begun circulating about his sudden reappearance. He ignored them, sliding into his seat and pulling out his notes. His professor barely acknowledged his presence before launching into a lecture on criminal defense, the irony not lost on Luca.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he already knew who it was before he checked. Damien.

How is it?

Luca sighed and typed back. Fine. I’m in class.

The response was immediate. Good. Don’t talk to anyone unnecessary.

Rolling his eyes, Luca tucked his phone away, trying to focus. But his thoughts drifted—he had fought for this freedom, yet it still felt like a gilded cage. Even here, Damien’s presence loomed over him like an unshakable shadow.

******** Meanwhile, back at his estate, Damien sat in his office, absentmindedly running a thumb over the rim of his glass. His mind was far from the business meeting before him; it was with Luca. The idea of letting him go to university had been unbearable, but Ava’s tearful insistence had broken through his resolve.

Still, his paranoia simmered beneath the surface. He didn’t trust the outside world, didn’t trust the people who would inevitably try to get close to Luca. His possessiveness ran too deep, his need to control too strong. He had men watching, ready to report any unusual behavior. If anyone so much as looked at Luca the wrong way, Damien would know.

A knock at the door interrupted his dark thoughts. One of his most trusted men stepped in, a grim expression on his face.

“Boss,” he said. “We have a problem. Mikhail’s men have been seen near the university.”

Damien’s grip tightened around his glass until it nearly shattered. The room went silent, the air thick with a tension that sent shivers down his men’s spines.

“Find out what they’re doing there,” he ordered coldly. “And if they go near Luca—” He paused, his eyes darkening with unspoken threat. “Make sure they regret it.”

******** After few days ,

As Damien pulled up to the university gates in his sleek black car, Ava bounced excitedly in the backseat, her tiny hands gripping the edge of her car seat.

"Papa, hurry! I want to surprise Luca!" she chirped, her bright eyes sparkling with excitement.

Damien, who had been in a relatively decent mood, smirked as he ruffled his daughter's hair. "Patience, princess. He’s not going anywhere."

However, as soon as Damien stepped out of the car and scanned the campus grounds, his sharp gaze landed on something that made his blood boil.

Luca was standing near a bench, laughing softly at something a young man said. Worse, he was leaning in slightly, his usual reserved expression softer, his lips curled in amusement. The boy, some university brat, was standing too close—too comfortable. The sight sent a searing wave of possessive rage through Damien’s veins.

Before he could storm over and rip the boy apart, Ava suddenly bolted toward Luca, her tiny arms stretched out. "Luca!"

Luca turned at the sound of her voice, his expression instantly softening as he caught her in his arms. The sight of them together should have soothed Damien, but his fury was already seething beneath the surface.

"What are you doing here, little troublemaker?" Luca chuckled, holding her close.

Ava giggled, oblivious to the tension building behind her. "Papa brought me! I missed you, so I made him bring me."

Luca turned to find Damien standing a few feet away, his icy blue eyes locked onto him. There was something dark lurking beneath his gaze, something lethal. Luca swallowed, sensing the storm brewing, but he forced a calm smile.

"Oh, Ava," Luca sighed playfully, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Now everyone in my university knows I have a daughter."

The boy standing beside Luca perked up in shock. "Wait… she's your—?"

Before he could finish, Damien took slow, deliberate steps toward them, his presence swallowing the space between them. The once-cheerful atmosphere grew suffocating. Students murmured, glancing at the intimidating man approaching with the grace of a predator.

The boy took an instinctive step back. "Uh… I should get going—"

"You should," Damien cut in coldly, his voice a sharp blade.

The boy nodded quickly and hurried away, clearly sensing the danger. Luca shot Damien a glare. "That was unnecessary."

"Was it?" Damien arched a brow, his voice deceptively calm. "Seemed like he was getting comfortable with what's mine."

Luca rolled his eyes, but before he could retort, Ava tugged at his sleeve. "Luca, can we go eat ice cream? I want Papa to buy us some!"

Luca sighed, his heart softening at her excited face. He glanced at Damien, who was still seething but kept his expression composed. "Fine. Let’s go. But no more scaring my classmates, Damien."

Damien smirked. "No promises, printsessa."

As they began to leave , a group of girls & guys approached them .

"Luca, you never told us you had a kid!" one girl exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise.

"No wonder you're always in a rush to leave!" someone else chimed in.

Luca had turned with that warm, soft smile—one Damien was beginning to think was reserved for Ava alone. He had caught his daughter mid-run, holding her close as she giggled in his arms, and with effortless pride, he had introduced her to the gathered students.

"This is Ava, my daughter."

Silence had stretched for only a second before a wave of laughter, teasing remarks, and astonished gasps rippled through the group.

"Damn, you’ve been hiding her? Are you secretly married?" another guy teased, nudging Luca playfully.

Luca, flustered but clearly pleased, adjusted Ava in his arms and shook his head. "It’s not like that. he's—"

"Mine," Damien interrupted, his voice smooth but edged with finality as he strode up behind them.

The moment his deep, authoritative tone cut through the chatter, the laughter quieted. The students turned as one, eyes widening as they took in the towering, impossibly intimidating man standing possessively close to Luca.

Damien barely glanced at them; his gaze was solely on Luca, who still held Ava like a protective shield, his expression torn between amusement and nervousness.

"O-Of course, she’s his too," Luca clarified, voice a little too light, clearly trying to defuse the situation.

Ava, ever the innocent in all of this, wiggled in Luca’s arms and reached toward Damien, demanding his attention. "Papa!"

Damien exhaled slowly, the storm in his chest settling into something deeper, something even more dangerous. Luca had called Ava his daughter in front of everyone—proudly, effortlessly. It wasn’t a claim forced upon him, nor one he had tried to hide. He had simply said it as though it were natural. And that alone made Damien’s possessiveness ease—just a little.

The teasing continued, albeit with a little more wariness now that Damien was visibly present.

"Man, Luca, I didn’t know you had this whole family thing going on. Respect."

"You should bring them to the next university event! Let everyone meet your adorable daughter."

"Yeah, yeah, and your scary mafia-looking husband too!" someone joked, laughing—until they caught Damien’s expression and immediately went silent.

Luca coughed, turning red. "He’s not my—"

"Get in the car," Damien ordered, his patience thinning.

Luca sighed, giving Ava a quick kiss on the cheek before placing her in the back seat. He offered one last sheepish look to his classmates before sliding into the passenger side.

As Damien took his seat and started the engine, he caught the way Luca was biting his lip, fighting back a smirk.

"What?" Damien grunted, sparing him a glance.

Luca finally let out a small laugh. "You actually handled that better than I expected. No broken bones."

Damien rolled his eyes but reached out, gripping Luca’s chin between his fingers, forcing him to meet his gaze. His voice dropped to something lower, more dangerous. "That doesn’t mean I’m not furious. You leaned too close to that boy."

Luca blinked before huffing a laugh. "You’re seriously still mad about that? It was nothing."

Damien said nothing, only narrowed his eyes, making it clear that nothing was ever ‘nothing’ when it came to Luca.

Ava, from the backseat, suddenly giggled, cutting through the tension. "Papa’s jealous."

Luca smirked, clearly enjoying himself now. "Oh, you have no idea, sweetheart."

Damien growled low in his throat but said nothing as he pulled the car onto the road, gripping the wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. Luca had no idea how dangerous this teasing was. No idea at all.