Chapter 3 - The Fiancée Who Ordered Her Death
Celeste’s men aimed their weapons at Luca, but the mafia boss did not step away from Elena. He remained directly between her and the bullets, his injured body becoming a shield without hesitation.
“Who was the traitor?” Elena asked.
Celeste laughed softly. “You still think this is about old secrets?”
Nathan’s captor shoved him to his knees.
Elena moved forward, but Luca caught her arm.
“Don’t.”
“That’s my brother.”
“And the man holding him wants you close enough to grab.”
Celeste tilted her head. “Always suspicious. It must be exhausting being you.”
“It keeps me alive.”
“Barely.”
The words had hardly left her mouth when Luca moved.
He grabbed the marble fruit bowl from the nearby table and hurled it toward the lights. Glass exploded. The room fell into darkness.
Gunfire erupted.
Luca pulled Elena to the floor and covered her with his body. Matteo and the guards burst through two hidden doors, returning fire with precise, controlled shots.
A man screamed.
Furniture shattered.
Someone crashed into the piano.
Elena pressed her hands against Luca’s chest as he shielded her.
“Your wound!”
“Stay down.”
Emergency lights flickered on.
Celeste’s two gunmen lay wounded on the floor. Nathan crawled away from them, his wrists still bound.
Celeste had disappeared.
The private elevator descended rapidly.
Matteo ran toward the control panel, but Luca stopped him.
“Let her go.”
Matteo stared at him. “Boss?”
“She wants us to chase her.”
A violent explosion shook the tower.
Smoke appeared from the elevator shaft.
Luca’s prediction had saved them.
Had Matteo entered the car, he would have died.
Elena looked at Luca differently.
He was not merely powerful.
He understood danger before it revealed itself.
Nathan struggled to stand. “Elena.”
She approached him slowly.
Eight years had changed her brother. His face had become harder. A scar cut through one eyebrow, and fear lived permanently behind his eyes.
She untied his wrists.
“Why did you disappear?”
“I was trying to keep you safe.”
“You left me alone while Mom was dying.”
“I was the reason men were watching our house.”
“You could have told me.”
“You would have tried to help.”
“I was your sister.”
“That’s exactly why I couldn’t let you.”
Elena stepped back, too angry to embrace him and too relieved to hate him.
Luca sat down heavily.
Blood spread beneath his shirt.
Elena immediately turned toward him.
Nathan caught her wrist. “Stay away from Moretti.”
She pulled free. “He just took bullets for me.”
“He is the reason our family was destroyed.”
Luca unbuttoned his shirt while Matteo called the doctors.
“Then explain it,” Luca said.
Nathan looked around at the armed guards.
“I need protection.”
Luca’s mouth curved coldly. “You entered my home with the woman who tried to kill me.”
“I didn’t enter willingly.”
“You worked for Victor Sanz.”
“I had no choice.”
“Everyone has a choice.”
“Easy for a man born into power to say.”
Luca’s expression darkened.
Elena stepped between them. “Enough. Tell us about Dad.”
Nathan breathed heavily.
“Dad found records proving someone was stealing money from Moretti Shipping and using the routes to move weapons. He planned to give the evidence to Luca’s father.”
“What happened?” Elena asked.
“He was poisoned before the meeting.”
Her stomach turned.
“The hospital said it was a heart attack.”
“The poison caused one.”
“Who did it?”
Nathan looked at Luca. “Salvatore Moretti.”
Luca became completely still.
Elena knew the name.
Salvatore was Luca’s uncle, his father’s younger brother, and the respected adviser who had helped Luca take control after his father died.
Matteo shook his head. “That’s impossible.”
Nathan laughed bitterly. “That is why he survived this long. Everyone thinks he is loyal.”
“What proof do you have?” Luca asked.
“Dad left a ledger.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. He hid it before he died.”
“Then you have nothing.”
“I have Celeste.”
Elena frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Celeste works for Salvatore. So does Victor Sanz. The engagement was supposed to place her beside Luca. She would influence decisions, report weaknesses, and eventually inherit part of the empire after his death.”
Luca’s eyes became deadly.
“Why attack me before the wedding?”
“Because you planned to cancel the Romano port agreement.”
Matteo looked at Luca. “Only five people knew.”
“One was Salvatore,” Luca said.
Nathan nodded. “They planned the ambush near the river. I helped create the false route.”
Elena stared at her brother.
“You helped them shoot him?”
“I didn’t know they planned to kill everyone. They told me it was a warning.”
“People died.”
“I know.”
Luca rose despite Elena’s attempt to stop him.
Nathan backed away.
“Give me one reason not to kill you.”
Elena stepped in front of her brother.
“Because I’m asking you not to.”
Luca’s gaze moved to hers.
The entire room waited.
Everyone knew what Luca normally did to traitors.
Elena did not.
But she understood enough to know that Nathan’s life depended on her.
“He helped arrange the attack,” Luca said.
“And now he can help prove who ordered it.”
“He disappeared while our mother was dying,” Elena continued. “He lied to me. He became involved with dangerous people. I don’t forgive him. But I will not stand here and watch you kill my brother.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
Nathan whispered, “Elena, move.”
She stayed.
Luca looked toward Matteo. “Lock him in the east guest room. Two guards at the door.”
Nathan blinked. “That’s it?”
“No.” Luca’s voice turned cold. “That is the only room in this tower where Elena can visit you without stepping over your corpse.”
The guards escorted Nathan away.
Elena released the breath she had been holding.
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t do it for him.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn’t stand between me and a threat.”
“He wasn’t armed.”
“Men like your brother don’t need weapons to destroy people.”
The bitterness in his voice hinted at something personal.
“Who betrayed you?” she asked.
Luca looked away.
Before he could answer, the doctors arrived and ordered him back into bed.
For the next hour, Elena assisted as they repaired another torn stitch and replaced the blood Luca had lost. His body weakened, but his authority never did. He continued issuing instructions while doctors worked around him.
Matteo was ordered to investigate Salvatore.
Security doubled around Elena.
Nathan’s story was to remain secret.
No retaliation would begin until Luca had proof.
After midnight, the penthouse finally became quiet.
Elena sat beside Luca’s bed.
He watched the city through the windows.
“You should sleep,” she said.
“So should you.”
“I’m not the one who keeps reopening a bullet wound.”
“You worry about me.”
“I’m medically obligated.”
“You’re no longer employed by the hospital.”
“Then perhaps I should stop.”
He turned his head toward her. “Would you?”
She did not answer.
Luca lifted one hand.
Elena hesitated, then placed hers in it.
“What happened to your brother?” she asked.
His thumb moved slowly over her knuckles.
“Marco was younger than me. He believed everyone could be redeemed.”
“You disagreed.”
“I believed trust had to be earned.”
“Who was right?”
“He trusted the wrong person. I buried him three days before his twenty-third birthday.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Celeste was there.”
Elena stiffened.
“They grew up together,” Luca continued. “Marco loved her. She claimed she saw him as a brother, but she used his feelings whenever she needed something.”
“You think she was involved in his death?”
“I didn’t before tonight.”
“What happened?”
“A warehouse fire. He went inside because Celeste called and said she was trapped. She had never entered the building.”
Elena understood the pain behind Luca’s controlled expression.
“Why did you agree to marry her?”
“To prevent a war between our families. I told myself duty mattered more than hatred.”
“And then you woke up holding my hand.”
“And realized I had nearly died for an empire filled with people I didn’t trust.”
His eyes met hers.
“The only person who fought for me had no reason to.”
Elena felt the air change between them.
“Luca…”
“I know you don’t trust me.”
“I don’t know you.”
“You know the parts I hide from everyone else.”
“That may be because you were unconscious.”
A faint smile appeared.
“Perhaps.”
She studied the tattoos covering his arms. Some were symbols she did not recognize. One showed two dates beneath a black rose.
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
She traced the edge of the tattoo without thinking.
Luca’s breath changed.
Elena pulled her hand away.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
Their eyes held.
The powerful man disappeared for a moment, leaving only someone who had spent years carrying grief alone.
Elena leaned forward.
Luca did not move.
Their faces were inches apart when an alarm sounded from her phone.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
A photograph loaded.
It showed Elena’s apartment building.
A red circle had been drawn around one window.
Her bedroom.
Words appeared beneath it.
You should have died in the hospital.
Luca took the phone.
His expression became terrifyingly calm.
A second image arrived.
It showed Elena entering the Moretti tower earlier that evening.
Leave him before sunrise, or your brother dies first.
Luca pressed a button on the bedside console.
Matteo entered within seconds.
“Find the sender.”
“We’ll need time.”
“You have ten minutes.”
Elena looked toward the hallway. “Nathan.”
Two guards rushed to the east guest room.
The door stood open.
One guard lay unconscious on the floor.
Nathan was gone.
On the bed, written in blood, were six words:
BRING THE NURSE TO THE OLD CHURCH.
Luca removed the medical lines from his arm.
Elena grabbed his hand. “You cannot go.”
“I’m not sending you alone.”
“It’s a trap.”
“Yes.”
“You can barely stand.”
His eyes settled on hers.
“They threatened the woman I love.”
Elena stopped breathing.
Luca appeared to realize what he had said, but he did not take it back.
May you like
Instead, he rose and reached for his gun.
“Tonight, they learn why every enemy I’ve ever had eventually begged me for mercy.”
