I didn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the message again.
Congratulations on the heir.
They knew.
Which meant nowhere was safe not truly.
By morning, the bunker felt smaller, tighter, like the walls were closing in. Guards rotated silently. Screens flickered with surveillance feeds. Luca stood at the center of it all, calm on the surface, deadly beneath.
I watched him from across the room.
This was his world steel, codes, command. And until now, I had only existed inside it.
That was about to change.
"We need to talk," I said.
Luca didn't look up from the tablet in his hands. "You need to eat first."
"I need answers."
That made him pause.
He set the tablet down slowly and faced me. "Go on."
"You said my mother worked for Victor Romano," I said. "Not as a maid. Not as an assistant. You said it like it meant something."
Luca studied me for a moment, as if deciding how much truth I could survive.
"She wasn't working for him," he said. "She was working against him."
My breath caught.
"She was an informant," Luca continued. "Embedded inside his organization. One of the best I've ever known."
I stared at him. "Then why was she killed?"
"She wasn't supposed to be," he replied quietly. "Her cover was blown. Romano suspected betrayal but he never confirmed it."
"And me?" I asked. "What was I?"
Luca's jaw tightened. "Leverage. Insurance. A loose end he never tied."
The room tilted slightly.
"So this war didn't start with our marriage," I said slowly. "It started with my blood."
"Yes."
I laughed once, sharp and bitter. "You married the enemy's unfinished business."
"I married survival," Luca corrected. "And I didn't expect to care."
That surprised us both.
I moved closer. "They won't stop," I said. "Not now. Not with a child involved."
"I know."
"And hiding me won't work anymore," I pressed. "They already see me as a player."
Luca's eyes darkened. "That's what I won't allow."
"You don't get to decide that alone," I said firmly. "Not anymore."
Silence stretched between us.
Then Luca nodded once.
"Fine," he said. "If you're stepping into this world, you do it with rules."
He gestured toward a chair. "Sit."
I did.
"Rule one," Luca said. "You never move without clearance."
"Agreed."
"Rule two: you learn everything," he continued. "Finance. Territory. Alliances."
"Yes."
"Rule three," he said, his voice lowering. "If you're threatened, you don't negotiate."
"What do I do?"
"You end it."
My stomach twisted but I didn't look away.
"Good," Luca said quietly. "You'll survive."
Marcus entered then, his expression grim.
"Sir," he said. "We traced the escape route from the bunker breach."
"And?" Luca asked.
"It leads to one name," Marcus replied. "Isabella Romano."
The name sent a chill through me.
"Victor's daughter," Luca said flatly.
"She's alive?" I asked.
"Yes," Marcus said. "And she's rebuilding what her father started."
Luca turned to me. "This is the woman who sent the message."
I straightened. "Then she's the one who thinks I'm weak."
Luca's mouth curved slightly. "She's about to be disappointed."
The screen behind Marcus flickered to life photos, documents, bank transfers.
Isabella Romano. Educated. Brilliant. Ruthless.
"She controls media influence," Marcus said. "And half the offshore accounts your marriage disrupted."
"So she's fighting you with money," I said.
"Yes," Luca replied. "And fear."
I looked at the screen, then back at Luca.
"Then let me be the face," I said.
Both men froze.
"You?" Marcus said.
"They expect Luca De Santis to strike," I continued. "They don't expect his wife to speak."
Luca stared at me. "This would make you visible."
"I already am," I said. "At least this way, I control how."
Silence.
Then Luca gave a slow nod.
"Prepare a statement," he said. "Private channels first."
Marcus blinked. "Sir".
"She's right," Luca interrupted. "They won't see her coming."
I exhaled slowly.
For the first time, fear wasn't leading me.
Power was.
As Marcus left, Luca stepped closer.
"This path doesn't end cleanly," he warned.
"I know," I replied. "But it ends on my feet."
Luca's hand rested briefly over my stomach.
"Then the war just changed," he said. "Because now… they're fighting a queen."
The lights dimmed.
And somewhere, Isabella Romano smiled already planning her next move.