Chapter 7 - Breaking Point
The aftermath was swift and merciless.
Hotel security scrambled to detain Lorenzo and Isabella, but Luca’s men took control before the local police could even be summoned to the main foyer. The Santoros were dragged out through the subterranean service tunnels, away from the glittering eyes of the charity gala.
The gala ended for us immediately.
Within twenty minutes, Luca’s armored convoy was speeding through the rain-slicked streets of Chicago, cutting through the neon reflections of the Loop toward the northern suburbs.
Sofia had fallen asleep in the back seat, curled under Luca’s heavy wool overcoat, her head resting on my lap. My fingers gently stroked her dark curls, but my entire body was shaking with an uncontrollable tremor of spent adrenaline.
Luca sat opposite us in the spacious interior of the Maybach.
He had discarded his tuxedo bowtie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his dress shirt, revealing the dark ink of a sprawling tattoo that climbed up his collarbone. He was pouring two fingers of amber bourbon into a crystal glass from the built-in console.
“Drink this,” he said, extending the glass toward me.
I shook my head, my voice barely a whisper. “I don't drink bourbon, Luca.”
“Drink it, Emma,” he commanded softly. “Your hands haven't stopped shaking since we left the hotel.”
Reluctantly, I took the glass with one hand, keeping the other steady on Sofia’s shoulder. The liquid burned like liquid fire down my throat, but it immediately sent a blossoming warmth through my cold chest, dulling the violent tremor in my fingers.
“How did you know?” I asked, looking up into his shadowed eyes. “The cameras. The vault. You knew they were going to frame me.”
Luca took a sip from his own glass, his gaze never leaving my face.
“Lorenzo is an idiot,” Luca replied flatly. “He thinks with his pride. I had taps on his private line the second Marcus threatened me in my foyer. When he called Isabella this afternoon to arrange the theft, my security team had already rerouted the Drake’s internal feeds to my personal server.”
I stared at him, awestruck and terrified by the sheer scope of his reach. “You used me as bait.”
A dark flicker of regret crossed Luca’s features. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, bringing his face dangerously close to mine.
“I didn't use you,” he said, his voice raw with an intensity that took my breath away. “I let them think they had an opening so I could destroy them legally and permanently. But if I had thought for a single second that you or Sofia were in physical danger, I would have put a bullet through Lorenzo’s skull in the middle of that ballroom.”
“They won't stop, Luca,” I whispered, looking down at his sleeping daughter. “Marcus Santoro won't let this go. You disgraced his family twice. People like that don't surrender.”
“They don't have to surrender,” Luca said coldly. “They just have to cease to exist.”
A cold chill ran down my spine. I knew what he was implying. Luca Moretti didn't fight boardroom battles; he fought wars of extermination. And now, because of me, a war was coming to his doorstep.
“You should send me away,” I blurted out.
Luca froze. His dark eyes narrowed into razor-thin slits. “What did you just say?”
“Send me away,” I repeated, tears blurring my vision. “I’m a liability. Before I arrived, you had peace. You had an alliance. Now Isabella is disgraced, the docks are contested, and men with guns are watching your house. If I leave—if you tell Marcus that you fired me and cast me out—maybe you can negotiate.”
The silence that filled the car was heavier than lead.
Luca set his glass down on the console with a sharp *clink*. In one fluid motion, he slid across the leather seat until he was sitting right beside me.
His large hand came up, cupping my jaw with surprising tenderness. His thumb swept across my cheekbone, catching a stray tear before it could fall.
“Look at me, Emma.”
I forced my eyes up to his.
“I spent thirty-four years building an empire,” Luca whispered, his thumb lightly brushing across my lower lip. “I surrounded myself with stone, steel, and dangerous men. I agreed to marry a viper because I thought it would protect my interests. But in all that time, my house was empty. Sofia was a ghost, and I was dead inside.”
His fingers trailed down the delicate line of my throat, resting right over my racing pulse.
“You walked into my home with bruised knuckles and a gentle heart,” he continued, his voice thick with unspoken passion. “You made my daughter smile again. You made me remember what it feels like to give a damn about something beyond profit and blood. I would burn this entire city to the ground before I let anyone take you away from me.”
My breath caught. My heart was pounding so loudly against my ribs I was terrified he could hear it.
“Luca…”
May you like
Before I could say another word, the car suddenly violently lurched to the left with a deafening screech of burning rubber.
***
