The tension inside the mansion was a living thing—breathing, watching, waiting for someone to make the wrong move.
Luca and I stood in the center of the hall, surrounded by men in suits whose smiles were sharper than their weapons. Conversations had thinned to murmurs; eyes followed us everywhere.
Especially me.
Especially where Luca's hand held mine.
He kept me close, as if daring anyone to try and take me.
Aldo Moretti's smirk didn't fade. "So this is the woman who turns the Rossi heir into a storm."
Luca didn't flinch.
"I warned you," he said quietly.
"And I ignored you," Aldo replied.
A beat passed.
The air snapped.
Luca's jaw clenched, but he didn't rise to the bait. His control was terrifying—precise, rehearsed, king-like.
I squeezed his hand subtly.He didn't look at me, but I felt his fingers tighten protectively.
"Let's begin," Aldo said, taking his seat at the long table. "We have business."
No one sat until Luca guided me into a chair beside him, his hand lingering on my shoulder for a moment too long.
A silent message: She is under my protection.
The room settled.
Barely.
Aldo's right-hand man cleared his throat. "The issue at hand—"
"Your attempted ambush," Luca cut in calmly.
Murmurs rippled.
Aldo's eyes gleamed. "Alleged."
Luca leaned forward. "Watch your words."
"Or what?" Aldo taunted. "You'll start a war over her?"
I felt Luca stiffen beside me.The entire table felt it too.
"Try me," Luca said, voice soft but deadly.
Aldo opened his mouth—But a loud crack echoed through the hall.
A chair at the far end had been kicked over.Guards surged forward.Someone shouted.
Chaos snapped into motion.
"GET DOWN!" Enzo yelled from behind us.
Before I could understand what was happening, Luca grabbed me, pulling me against his chest as the room erupted.
Men lunged.Tables scraped.Shouts, commands, bodies moving too fast to track—
But Luca held me steady, his arms a shield around my body.
"Don't move," he whispered, his tone low and urgent.
Someone shoved a table aside—A second loud bang hit the walls—Then a scream.
I pressed my hands against Luca's chest, heart racing. "Luca—what's happening?"
His eyes scanned the room, sharp and calculating. "Someone planned this. Someone inside."
Enzo rushed to our side, positioning himself as a barrier. "Boss—Moretti's men are turning on each other. Someone broke ranks."
Aldo Moretti rose from his chair, livid. "ENOUGH! Who started this?!"
But his voice was drowned by more shouts.
Luca's hand tightened protectively around my waist. "Stay behind me."
A group of Moretti men suddenly rushed forward—not toward Luca… but toward Aldo.
"Traitors!" Aldo roared.
It wasn't an attack on us.
It was a coup.
Inside the Moretti family.
Someone inside Aldo's own ranks had planned to overthrow him—and they'd used the meeting as the perfect stage.
Luca's voice remained calm.Deadly calm.
"Elena," he said, pulling me close. "Listen carefully. We're leaving. Right now."
"But the others—"
"They are not my concern. You are."
My throat tightened.
His hand never left my waist as he maneuvered me backward, keeping his body between me and the chaos.
But one of Aldo's men stepped into our path—Eyes wild, movements frantic.
A rogue.Unpredictable.Desperate.
He lunged.
I gasped—
But Luca moved faster.
His arm shot out, shoving the man away with enough force to knock him into a table. No violence beyond that—just sheer, impossible strength and speed.
"Don't touch her," Luca warned, voice low.
The man staggered up, furious—Enzo intercepted him with a swift, controlled takedown, nothing graphic, just efficient and clean.
"Go!" Enzo barked. "I've got this!"
Luca didn't hesitate.
He dragged me toward the back exit, one arm around my waist, the other guiding me forward.
The mansion shook with fighting behind us—men struggling, shouting commands, chairs scraping, bodies moving.
Nothing gory.Nothing explicit.
But terrifying all the same.
We reached a corridor lit only by flickering lamps.Luca slowed for a moment, placing a hand against the wall as he scanned ahead.
"Luca," I whispered, breath trembling, "are we safe?"
He turned to me sharply—hands gripping my arms, his voice rough with fear he never showed.
"Elena—look at me."
I did.
And the terror swirling inside him wasn't for himself.It was for me.
"You don't turn back," he said."You don't hesitate."His voice shook ever so slightly."You don't leave my side. Not tonight. Not ever again."
My heart clenched.
Before I could speak, footsteps pounded at the far end of the hall.
Not Enzo.
Not Rossi men.
The traitors.
Coming our way.
Luca pulled me behind him again, eyes sharpening.
"Stay behind me," he said, voice iron-hard. "No matter what."
The footsteps grew louder.
Closer.
My hands shook—but Luca stepped forward, shoulders squared, every muscle in his body coiled with fierce protectiveness.
He was ready to fight an entire room if he had to.
"Elena," he murmured without looking back, "I promised I wouldn't let them touch you."
And then—
A voice cut through the tension.
Aldo Moretti's.
"STOP! All of you!"
The traitors froze.
Aldo appeared at the end of the hall—blood on his sleeve, rage written across his face, but very much alive.
Luca stiffened.
Aldo pointed directly at the men who had followed us.
"If you harm her," he barked, "you're signing the death of all of us."
The traitors hesitated.
Aldo staggered closer, clutching the wall."This wasn't Rossi's doing," he growled."This was inside my own family."
Luca's jaw clenched.
"He's not wrong," Aldo said, breathing heavily. "But…"His eyes met Luca's."…we have bigger concerns than our rivalry."
Luca didn't lower his guard.
Aldo exhaled sharply."You want the truth?"He pointed to the traitors."They weren't trying to kill you or me tonight."
His voice lowered.
"They were trying to take her."
The world stopped.
Luca stiffened so violently that I felt the vibration through his arm.
"What?" Luca whispered.
Aldo nodded grimly. "She was their target."
My heart dropped.Luca's fingers tightened painfully around mine.
"Why?" he demanded.
Aldo glanced at me—then back at Luca with a chilling expression.
"Because they think she's the key."
Luca's breath trembled. "To what?"
"To destroying you," Aldo answered."And taking everything you've built."
Silence choked the corridor.
Luca's hand found my waist—pulling me closer than ever.
"Elena," he whispered, voice trembling with something fierce and shattered,"you're not leaving my sight again."
I looked up at him.
And saw a truth I hadn't wanted to face—
He wasn't the danger in my life.
I was the danger in his.