Chapter 5 - The Night Sophia Chose Him
Paolo had been Luca's uncle.
He had been one of the few people Luca trusted completely.
His disappearance changed everything.
Stefano Ricci was now openly targeting the Moretti family.
Messages arrived.
Threats.
Photographs.
Names.
And finally, one photograph of me.
Taken outside the pastry kitchen.
The caption read:
THE SMALL BRIDE BREAKS FIRST.
Luca became overprotective.
He moved me into the secure wing.
He assigned two guards to follow me.
I hated it.
“This is ridiculous.”
“It's necessary.”
“I can't bake with someone standing behind me holding a rifle.”
“They'll stand outside.”
“Still.”
He looked tired.
“I don't know how to protect you without becoming the person you don't want me to be.”
That stopped me.
“Then ask.”
“What?”
“Ask me what I need.”
He was silent.
I took his hand.
“I need you to trust me.”
“I do.”
“I need you to stop assuming I'll disappear.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I've watched everyone leave.”
I understood.
“I won't.”
His fingers tightened around mine.
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
The next day, we hosted a charity dinner.
It was supposed to make the family appear united.
Instead, Stefano attacked.
A bomb exploded in the courtyard.
Smoke filled the air.
People screamed.
I lost sight of Luca.
I ran.
I found him near the garden.
Blood covered his shirt.
“Luca!”
“It's not mine.”
He pointed.
Marco was injured.
I dropped beside him.
“Call the doctor.”
Luca grabbed my arm.
“Get inside.”
“No.”
“Now.”
“I won't leave you.”
His expression broke.
Not anger.
Fear.
He pulled me into his arms.
“Then stay close.”
We survived the attack.
That night, Luca admitted something he had never told anyone.
“When I was twenty, a woman I loved was killed because someone wanted leverage.”
I looked at him.
“She was my first.”
“What happened?”
“I couldn't protect her.”
He stared at the window.
“Since then, every time someone gets close to me, I expect them to disappear.”
I touched his face.
“You didn't kill her.”
“I know.”
“You couldn't save her.”
“I know.”
“But you can save yourself from repeating it.”
He looked at me.
“How?”
“By believing me when I say I'm staying.”
His forehead touched mine.
“I'm trying.”
It was the first time I saw him as something other than the feared boss.
He was a man carrying grief.
The kind that made people build walls.
And I wanted to help him lower them.
A week later, we discovered Paolo had left willingly.
He wasn't working for Stefano.
He was undercover.
He had infiltrated the rival organization.
But he brought terrible news.
Stefano had the ledger.
Or thought he did.
The real ledger was still hidden.
My father had split it into three parts.
One part was inside the Moretti archives.
One was in my mother's possession.
And the third was inside the wedding cake recipe book my father had given me as a child.
I laughed when I heard it.
“You've got to be kidding.”
“No,” Paolo said.
“My father hid criminal evidence inside a recipe book?”
“He knew nobody would steal something that looked like flour stains.”
I ran upstairs.
My old recipe book had been brought from my father's house years ago.
I opened it.
The pages smelled like vanilla and dust.
A hidden compartment appeared beneath the binding.
Inside was a small key.
And a note.
For my daughter.
The key opens the vault beneath Bellagio Station.
Trust the man who laughs when you fall.
I looked at Luca.
He smiled.
“I guess I passed.”
“You laughed?”
“The first time.”
I punched his shoulder.
He barely moved.
We went to Bellagio Station.
Beneath the abandoned platform was a hidden vault.
Inside were financial records.
Photographs.
A complete ledger.
And one final document.
The identity of the person who had orchestrated the entire conflict.
It wasn't Stefano.
It wasn't Paolo.
It wasn't even Luca's father.
It was Elena.
My mother.
I stared in horror.
“No.”
Luca took the document.
His face hardened.
“This isn't possible.”
Then a voice came from behind us.
“It is.”
We turned.
My mother stood at the entrance.
Alive.
Older.
May you like
Holding a gun.
And she was pointing it at me.
