Chapter 3 - The Baker Who Walked Into a War
Luca didn't lie to me.
At least, not about my father.
He told me everything he knew.
Daniel Bennett had been involved with the Moretti organization as a legitimate business consultant.
He had handled international shipping contracts.
Then six years ago, he supposedly died in a car accident.
Except Luca had reason to believe he'd been murdered.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't have proof.”
I stared at him.
“Now?”
“Now someone wants us to find it.”
“Why?”
“Because your father's death is connected to a war I've been trying to stop.”
I leaned against the counter.
“This keeps getting worse.”
“Yes.”
“Do you ever have normal problems?”
“No.”
“Like a broken oven?”
“That would be easier.”
I laughed despite myself.
He smiled.
Then the estate was attacked.
Gunfire shattered the kitchen windows.
Luca grabbed me.
Not violently.
Protectively.
He pulled me behind the marble island.
“Stay down.”
“I hate that phrase.”
“I know.”
Men rushed through the hallway.
Security answered.
The attack lasted less than a minute.
When the silence returned, Luca's hand was still around mine.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You're bleeding.”
I looked down.
A piece of glass had cut my arm.
“It's nothing.”
He lifted my hand.
His fingers were enormous around my wrist.
He looked at the cut as though someone had committed a crime against him personally.
Then his eyes hardened.
“You stay with me.”
“I am.”
“No.”
He looked directly at me.
“You stay with me from now on.”
The words were not a command.
They were fear.
For the first time, I understood something.
Luca's calm wasn't confidence.
It was discipline.
He had trained himself never to show fear because everyone around him depended on him not to.
After the attack, we discovered someone had entered the estate through the old tunnel.
They had left one thing behind.
A broken cufflink.
Silver.
Engraved with the initials D.B.
My father's initials.
I stared at it.
“That belonged to him.”
“You're sure?”
“I gave it to him when I was sixteen.”
Luca picked it up.
“This means your father was here.”
“Recently?”
“Maybe.”
My heart pounded.
Then Marco entered.
“Sir, there's another problem.”
“What?”
“Someone has accessed the family archive.”
“Who?”
Marco looked at me.
“Her.”
I froze.
“What?”
“The archive was opened with a registered fingerprint under your name.”
“I've never been inside it.”
Luca looked at me.
I could hear the unspoken question.
Could she have done it?
I shook my head.
“No.”
“I believe you,” he said immediately.
Marco looked surprised.
“Sir—”
“I said I believe her.”
That mattered more than I expected.
We entered the archive together.
My fingerprint had been duplicated.
Inside, files had been removed.
One file remained.
My father's.
I opened it.
The documents described a secret agreement between Daniel Bennett and Luca's father.
They had agreed to protect each other's families.
The agreement included one line that changed everything.
If Daniel Bennett disappears, Luca Moretti must protect his daughter until she knows the truth.
I looked at Luca.
“You knew.”
“I knew there was a protection clause.”
“You knew I was the daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you marry me?”
“I didn't.”
I stared.
He stepped closer.
“Your father arranged the original agreement before you were old enough to know what it meant.”
“So this marriage wasn't your idea.”
“No.”
“Then why did you agree?”
“Because I wanted you safe.”
My anger softened.
“You could've told me.”
“I was waiting for the right moment.”
“There isn't a right moment for something like this.”
“I know.”
I closed my eyes.
“What exactly are you protecting me from?”
Luca hesitated.
“A man named Stefano Ricci.”
“Who is he?”
“Your father's former partner.”
“Why does he want me?”
“Because your father stole something from him.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
“What does it contain?”
“Names of people who have been secretly controlling shipping routes throughout Europe.”
“Why does Stefano care?”
“Because he's one of the names.”
A chill moved through me.
“So my father stole the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“And hid it.”
“Yes.”
“And now they think I know where it is.”
“Yes.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I bake cakes.”
Luca's mouth twitched.
“Apparently your father thought you'd be harder to manipulate than he was.”
“Was he right?”
“Yes.”
The next day, we traveled into the mountains.
An old chapel stood on private land.
Inside, beneath the altar, we found another clue.
A small wooden box.
Inside was a wedding ring.
My mother's.
Under it was a note.
Elena,
Trust the giant who doesn't ask you to shrink.
I stared at the words.
Luca read them.
He looked at me.
“Your mother wrote that?”
“Yes.”
“Why would she say that?”
“Because she knew you?”
“No.”
He looked at the ring.
“Because she knew who I was going to become.”
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I walked downstairs and found Luca in the kitchen.
He was making coffee.
“You don't sleep either?”
“Not much.”
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Because someone is trying to kill you.”
I leaned against the counter.
“And you?”
“I've survived worse.”
I smiled.
“That's not an answer.”
He looked away.
“I worry.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
Something warm moved through me.
“Luca.”
He looked at me.
“I don't want to be your obligation.”
“You're not.”
“Then what am I?”
He didn't answer.
May you like
The silence did.
And somehow, I already knew.
