Chapter 4 - The Night Someone Came for Lily
Emma did not sleep after seeing the photograph.
By sunrise, Luca had moved her and Lily out of the apartment.
Emma protested until she saw the black sedan parked across the street.
The same sedan had followed her from the pediatrician.
She stopped arguing.
Luca's home stood behind iron gates outside the city, but it did not resemble the dark fortress Emma expected.
There were windows everywhere.
Books.
Warm wood.
Family photographs.
Sofia was already there with baby Matteo, recently released from NICU.
“You too?” Emma asked.
Sofia nodded.
“Luca becomes unbearable when he's worried.”
“I heard that,” Luca said.
“You were supposed to.”
For the first time in days, Emma relaxed.
Only slightly.
Then Derek called.
She answered.
“Where are you?”
Emma's entire body tightened.
“You don't get to ask that.”
“Emma, listen to me. You need to leave Moretti.”
“Why?”
“He's using you.”
“For what?”
Derek hesitated.
“Against me.”
Emma almost laughed.
“You think this is still about you.”
“You don't understand who he is.”
“And you don't understand what you've done.”
“Victor wasn't supposed to involve you.”
Emma froze.
Across the room Luca immediately looked at her.
“You know Victor is following me.”
Silence.
“Derek?”
“I can fix it.”
“How?”
“I need time.”
“You used that phrase at the hospital too.”
“Emma—”
“You borrowed four million dollars?”
“It's complicated.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I was going to replace everything before you ever knew.”
“With what?”
“The development deal was supposed to close.”
“And when it failed?”
Derek said nothing.
Emma's voice shook.
“You offered them my trust.”
“No.”
“Then why does Victor have my photograph?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“Emma, please.”
It was the first time he had said please.
She felt nothing.
“Tell Victor I have nothing to do with your debt.”
“He won't care.”
That answer terrified her.
Luca took the phone gently.
“Derek.”
Silence.
Luca's voice was almost soft.
“If Victor comes within a mile of Emma or Lily, your financial problems will become the least interesting part of your week.”
Emma stared.
Luca ended the call.
“I thought we weren't threatening people.”
“I was being informative.”
“Luca.”
He sighed.
“Fine. Moderately threatening.”
Despite herself, Emma smiled.
That afternoon, Luca's attorneys obtained an emergency order freezing Northstar's assets.
By evening, Brittany's compliance department suspended her.
At 9:17 p.m., Brittany called Emma.
She was crying.
Emma nearly hung up.
“Please don't.”
“Why shouldn't I?”
“Because Derek lied to me too.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“You expect sympathy?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“But you need to know something.”
Emma sat straighter.
“What?”
“Derek told Victor your trust releases early if you marry.”
Emma frowned.
“That isn't true.”
“I know.”
“Then why would he say it?”
“Because he needed Victor to believe the money was accessible.”
Emma's stomach tightened.
“And?”
Brittany whispered, “Victor thinks Luca is going to marry you.”
Emma almost laughed from sheer disbelief.
“What?”
“He saw Luca protecting you. Derek told him Luca was planning to marry you and unlock the trust.”
“That makes no sense.”
“To Victor it does.”
Emma looked across the room.
Luca stood by the windows speaking with Marco.
He noticed her expression immediately.
“What?”
Emma put Brittany on speaker.
Brittany repeated it.
Luca became very still.
“Where is Derek?”
“I don't know.”
“Brittany.”
“I swear.”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“My apartment.”
“Leave.”
“What?”
“Now.”
The line went dead.
Luca looked at Marco.
“Get someone to her building.”
Emma stood.
“What is happening?”
“Victor knows Derek lied.”
“And?”
“Men like Victor don't respond well to embarrassment.”
Ten minutes later Marco received the call.
Brittany's apartment was empty.
The door had been forced.
On the kitchen counter was her phone.
Derek disappeared the same night.
For two days there was no contact.
Then, shortly after midnight, the security alarm at Luca's estate activated.
Emma woke to Lily crying.
The lights went out.
Her blood turned cold.
Luca appeared in the doorway seconds later.
“Take Lily.”
“I have her.”
“Come with me.”
He led Emma and Sofia into a reinforced interior room.
Marco spoke through Luca's earpiece.
“South perimeter.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“How many?”
“Three.”
Emma grabbed his arm.
“Don't go.”
Luca looked down at her hand.
“Stay here.”
“Luca.”
“I promise they won't reach you.”
“That isn't what I said.”
Their eyes met.
Emma realized what she had revealed.
She was afraid for him.
Luca touched her cheek once.
Briefly.
Then he left.
The next fifteen minutes felt endless.
Emma held Lily.
Sofia held Matteo.
Neither woman spoke.
Then a gunshot sounded somewhere outside.
Emma flinched.
Another.
Then silence.
The door opened.
Emma's heart stopped.
Marco entered.
“It's clear.”
“Luca?”
“Fine.”
Emma rushed past him.
She found Luca near the back entrance.
His shirt sleeve was torn.
Blood marked his forearm.
“You're hurt.”
“Scratch.”
“That's blood.”
“I've seen blood before.”
Emma grabbed his wrist.
“Well, congratulations.”
She pulled him toward the kitchen.
“Sit.”
Luca obeyed.
Sofia appeared and smiled faintly.
“My brother obeying instructions. I should photograph this.”
“Go away, Sofia.”
Emma cleaned the cut.
It was shallow.
Her hands still shook.
Luca noticed.
“Emma.”
“Don't.”
“You're safe.”
“I know.”
“Lily is safe.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
Emma looked at him.
“Because you weren't.”
Silence.
Luca's expression softened.
“I'm difficult to kill.”
“That isn't comforting.”
“It usually is.”
Emma laughed once, then unexpectedly started crying.
Luca stood.
She stepped into him before she could reconsider.
He wrapped his arms around her.
No seduction.
No demand.
Just warmth.
Emma pressed her face against his chest.
“I hate this.”
“I know.”
“I hate being afraid.”
“I know.”
“I hate that Derek did this.”
Luca held her tighter.
“I know.”
“And I hate that I feel safe with you.”
That made him still.
Emma pulled back.
“Because I don't know what that means.”
“It doesn't have to mean anything tonight.”
She looked into his eyes.
“Why are you so patient with me?”
“Because somebody should be.”
Emma's breath caught.
Luca lowered his forehead gently against hers.
He did not kiss her.
And somehow that restraint affected her more than a kiss could have.
Then Marco entered.
His expression ended the moment.
“We caught one of them.”
Luca stepped away.
“And?”
“He talked.”
“Where's Victor?”
Marco looked at Emma.
Luca noticed.
“Say it.”
“St. Augustine.”
Emma frowned.
“The hospital?”
Marco nodded.
“He believes something is there.”
“What?”
Marco's face hardened.
“Derek.”
The following morning police surrounded an unused administrative wing of St. Augustine.
Derek was found alive.
Brittany was with him.
So was Victor.
The confrontation ended without anyone dying, but the evidence recovered changed everything.
Forged documents.
Loan agreements.
Recorded threats.
Copies of Emma's trust records.
And an audio file.
Derek's voice.
Emma listened from Luca's study.
“If Emma won't cooperate, scare her. Just don't touch the baby.”
Victor laughed on the recording.
“And if she still refuses?”
A long pause.
Then Derek answered.
“Do what you have to do.”
Emma stopped the recording.
She could not listen further.
Luca stood behind her.
“He didn't say Lily.”
Emma's voice was hollow.
“No.”
“He said the baby.”
“Yes.”
“As if she were nobody.”
Luca crouched beside Emma's chair.
“She is not nobody.”
Emma looked at him.
Lily slept in a bassinet nearby.
“No,” Emma whispered.
May you like
“She isn't.”
And neither, Emma finally understood, was she.
