Chapter 11 - CONFESSIONS IN THE LIBRARY
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Two days after the fall of the Bellini syndicate, a deep, restorative calm settled over the Moretti estate.
The broken glass had been swept away, the damaged gates had been repaired, and the autumn leaves once again fell peacefully upon the lawns.
Caroline had officially resumed her joint-custody schedule, taking Lily to the planetarium for a long-delayed science project.
My mother had settled into her luxury penthouse in Lincoln Park, laughing over video calls about how her private physical therapist was “too handsome for his own good.”
It was eleven at night, and the mansion was wrapped in quiet slumber.
I could not sleep.
I walked down the carpeted hallway of the third floor, drawn to the warm, amber glow spilling from the library doors.
I peeked inside.
Luca was sitting in a deep leather armchair beside the roaring fireplace, holding a crystal glass of amber bourbon.
He wore a simple black cashmere sweater and dark trousers, looking relaxed, unguarded, and strikingly handsome.
On the table beside him lay an old leather-bound photo album.
“You don't have to hover in the doorway, Emma,” Luca said softly without turning his head.
“Your footsteps are softer than a whisper, but I always know when you’re near.”
I smiled, stepping inside and pulling my soft wool cardigan tighter around my shoulders.
“I didn't mean to disturb you,” I said, walking toward the fire.
“You could never disturb me,” Luca replied, gesturing to the matching armchair opposite his.
I sat down, pulling my legs up onto the cushion and watching the orange flames dance in the hearth.
Luca picked up the photo album and turned it toward me.
Inside was a photograph of a younger Luca, barely nineteen, holding a swaddled infant Lily in a hospital room.
His face in the picture was pale, terrified, and filled with an awe so vast it was almost heartbreaking.
“The night Lily was born,” Luca began, staring into the flames.
“My father had been assassinated three months earlier.”
“I was nineteen years old, thrown onto the throne of the most violent syndicate in Illinois.”
“I had blood on my hands before I even learned how to be a father.”
He took a slow sip of his bourbon, his knuckles white around the glass.
“Caroline tried so hard to endure it,” he continued, his voice heavy with ancient grief.
“She stayed for seven years because she loved me, but the fear was eating her alive.”
“Every time a car backfired, she thought a hitman had breached the gates.”
“When she asked for a divorce, it broke me in half, but I knew she was right.”
“She deserved peace.”
Luca set his glass down on the table and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his dark eyes locking onto mine.
“After that, I closed every door inside myself,” he whispered.
“I brought Vanessa into my life because her father had the shipping routes I needed to secure my family’s future.”
“It was a cold, calculated transaction.”
“I told myself that love was a weakness that gets men killed in this city.”
“And then, last week, I walked into that dining room.”
Luca reached across the small space between our chairs, his warm fingers covering my bandaged hands.
“I saw a girl on her knees, defying twenty-eight billionaires to protect a little girl’s braided hair.”
“I saw a woman who didn't care about wealth, territory, or bloodlines—a woman who only cared about what was right.”
“In that single second, Emma, every wall I had spent eight years building collapsed into dust.”
My throat tightened, tears stinging behind my eyelids as I looked into the depths of his soul.
“Luca... you don't have to be alone anymore,” I whispered, turning my palm up to interlock my fingers with his.
“I know who you are.”
“I’ve seen the darkness in your world, but I’ve also seen the man who carries his daughter when she’s too tired to walk.”
“I’ve seen the man who bought an old woman her freedom.”
Luca rose smoothly from his chair, kneeling down on the Persian rug beside me just as he had done with Lily.
He raised his hand, gently cupping the side of my face, his thumb stroking my cheek with infinite reverence.
“I love you, Emma,” Luca said, his voice ringing clear and steady in the quiet room.
“Not as a protector, not as a boss, but as a man who cannot imagine another day on this earth without you by his side.”
My heart swelled with an emotion so vast and overwhelming it took my breath away.
“I love you too, Luca,” I choked out, leaning forward into his embrace.
May you like
Luca pulled me down into his arms, his mouth capturing mine in a kiss that was deep, passionate, and filled with a lifetime of promises.
The fire crackled in the hearth, burning away the cold shadows of the past, sealing our hearts together forever.
