Chapter 4 - The Bride Everyone Wanted to Use
The Moretti family council demanded our marriage happen immediately.
Luca refused.
That caused problems.
His uncle, Paolo, accused him of weakness.
His cousin, Matteo, accused him of falling in love.
I wasn't sure which insult bothered Luca more.
The wedding planning became a battlefield.
Every decision was political.
Who attended.
Which families were invited.
Which contracts would be signed.
Which photographs would be released.
I hated all of it.
Until one afternoon, Luca found me in the pastry kitchen.
“You're upset.”
“Wedding planning is awful.”
“Then don't plan it.”
“I want to choose my own dress.”
“You can.”
“I want my own cake.”
“You can.”
“I don't want fifty men with guns standing behind the priest.”
He thought about it.
“Thirty?”
I laughed.
“That was not the point.”
He smiled.
“Okay.”
For the first time, the wedding felt like ours.
I chose a simple ivory dress.
No crown.
No diamonds.
No giant production.
Luca wore a black suit.
He looked terrifying.
Then he saw me.
And everything about his face softened.
At the ceremony, he stood beneath the flowers looking enormous and nervous.
I whispered:
“Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
“Of me?”
“Of disappointing you.”
I smiled.
“You already did.”
His eyes widened.
“I did?”
“You didn't tell me you knew how handsome you were.”
A surprised laugh escaped him.
We exchanged vows.
Real ones.
Not the contractual promises our fathers had written.
I promised not to judge him by rumors.
He promised never to control me.
I promised to tell him when I was afraid.
He promised to listen.
When the priest pronounced us married, Luca didn't kiss me immediately.
He leaned close.
“May I?”
I nodded.
He kissed me gently.
The entire room disappeared.
For those few seconds, there was no mafia.
No ledger.
No family war.
Only us.
Then a gunshot cracked outside.
The guests panicked.
Security moved.
Luca turned instantly.
He pushed me behind him.
A man ran across the courtyard.
Marco caught him.
But before he could escape, the man shouted:
“Ask your wife where her father is!”
He was arrested.
Luca looked at me.
I looked back.
The question followed us through the reception.
Where is my father?
That night, Luca finally showed me the hidden room beneath the estate.
Inside were photographs of Daniel.
Dozens.
My father had been followed for years.
Luca showed me the final photograph.
Daniel was alive.
He was standing beside a woman.
My mother.
I couldn't breathe.
“She was alive too?”
“No.”
“Then what is this?”
“Taken eighteen months ago.”
My knees weakened.
“My parents are alive.”
“I believe so.”
We traced the photograph to a private clinic in Geneva.
My mother had been there under another name.
But she was gone.
She had left one message.
Protect Elena.
Luca stared at it.
I cried.
“They're both alive.”
“Yes.”
“And they knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why would they abandon me?”
Luca took my hand.
“They didn't.”
“How can you know?”
“Because they left everything to protect you.”
I leaned against him.
His arms came around me.
For the first time, I let myself cry against his chest.
I expected him to say something.
He didn't.
He simply held me.
A man everyone feared had no idea what to do with tears.
But he stayed.
That was enough.
Three days later, we found my mother's location.
Sicily.
We flew there.
But we arrived too late.
The house had been burned.
In the ashes was a metal box.
Inside was a letter.
My darling Elena,
If Luca is beside you, then I was right to trust him.
Do not trust anyone who tells you your father abandoned you.
And do not trust the person closest to our family.
Because the man who betrayed us has been sitting at our table for years.
Luca looked at the letter.
“Who?”
I shook my head.
“I don't know.”
Then Marco approached.
He looked pale.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Your uncle Paolo has disappeared.”
Luca's face became cold.
Marco continued.
“And the security footage shows him leaving with Stefano Ricci.”
May you like
The enemy wasn't outside our family.
He was inside.
