Chapter 5 - The Woman Luca Trusted Most
Luca replayed the recording four times.
His mother’s voice did not change.
Elena Moretti.
The woman who had raised him.
Protected him.
Defended Vittorio even when father and son nearly destroyed each other.
Nora touched his arm.
“We don’t know the context.”
Luca looked at her.
Months earlier, he would have accused Nora.
Now she was defending his mother.
That realization hurt differently.
They confronted Elena the following morning.
She did not deny the recording.
Instead, she cried.
Twenty years earlier, Vittorio, Samuel, and Elena had created a hidden employee trust designed to prevent hostile seizure of Moretti Continental.
Arden Capital discovered it.
Samuel threatened exposure.
Elena helped conceal documents.
Not crimes.
Evidence.
“What did Samuel mean about his death?” Nora asked.
Elena shook her head.
“I didn’t kill your father.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you suspected someone.”
Elena looked at Luca.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Before she answered, the windows exploded.
Luca threw Nora to the floor.
Security rushed in.
A bullet had struck the wall behind Elena.
The shooter disappeared before Marco’s men reached the street.
That changed everything.
This was no longer corporate warfare.
Someone was willing to kill.
Luca moved Nora into the estate permanently.
She objected.
He ignored her.
“You don’t own me.”
“No.”
“Then stop giving orders.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“Try asking.”
He stared.
“Would you please stay here where my security team can protect you?”
Nora considered.
“Fine.”
“That was painful.”
“You’ll survive.”
The days that followed pulled them closer.
Fear stripped away performance.
Luca saw Nora without makeup, exhausted at breakfast.
Nora saw him wake from nightmares about Vittorio.
He told her about his father’s death.
She told him about being mocked throughout school for her weight.
He admitted he had heard guests insulting her at the wedding and had done nothing.
“That hurt more than your speech,” she said.
Luca looked sick.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
One night, Nora fell asleep over financial documents.
Luca carried a blanket into the study.
He covered her carefully.
Her eyes opened.
“You’re staring.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
He sat beside her.
“Nora?”
“Yes?”
“Why aren’t you afraid of me?”
She smiled sleepily.
“Because men who constantly remind people they’re dangerous usually aren’t the dangerous ones.”
“And the dangerous ones?”
“They smile while someone else does the damage.”
Celeste.
They both thought it.
The following day Nora discovered the decisive link.
Arden Strategic Holdings was not controlled by Celeste’s father.
It was controlled through a trust.
The beneficiary was Celeste.
But the trustee was Adrian Mercer.
Two enemies.
Working together.
Or appearing to.
Luca summoned Adrian.
He never arrived.
His car was found abandoned.
Blood covered the driver’s seat.
Then the Moretti board scheduled the emergency vote.
Twenty-four hours.
If Luca could not prove the fraudulent collateral arrangement, he would lose operational control.
Nora worked through the night.
At 4:11 a.m., she found a provision in Vittorio’s marital trust.
Luca leaned over her shoulder.
“What?”
Nora smiled.
“Your grandfather was insane.”
“I know.”
“No. Brilliantly insane.”
The marital trust possessed temporary superseding voting rights if fraud threatened the company.
But activation required both spouses.
Luca stared at her.
“So you can stop the vote.”
“We can stop it.”
He looked at Nora.
She had every reason to walk away.
Instead she was saving him.
“Why?”
“Because eighteen thousand people work for Moretti Continental.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
Nora understood.
Neither spoke.
Luca leaned closer.
She did not move away.
Their first kiss was quiet.
No chandeliers.
No audience.
No obligation.
Just two exhausted people standing over legal documents at four in the morning.
When they separated, Nora looked stunned.
“So,” she whispered, “that was inconvenient.”
“Extremely.”
His phone rang.
Marco.
Luca answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Nora stood.
Luca slowly lowered the phone.
“They found Adrian.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Luca stared at her.
“In your father’s graveyard.”
“And he says Celeste isn’t behind this.”
Nora’s stomach tightened.
“Then who is?”
Luca looked toward the doorway.
Adrian Mercer was standing there.
May you like
Blood on his shirt.
And he pointed directly at Luca’s mother.
