Chapter 3 - Whispers in the Shadows
Life inside the Moretti estate was an exercise in strange contradictions.
By day, the manor felt almost normal. I established a routine with Mateo: breakfast, homeschooling tutors, playing hide-and-seek in the massive library, and baking messily in the state-of-the-art kitchen. Mateo was a sweet, observant child who missed his mother—she had passed away from an illness three years earlier, leaving him in a world governed entirely by dark men in heavy suits.
By night, however, the estate transformed into a command center.
Convoys of tinted SUVs arrived past midnight. I would wake to the low rumble of voices echoing from Luca's soundproofed study down the hall. I learned to avoid the west wing after sunset, but avoiding the reality of who Luca Moretti was proved impossible.
One evening, after putting Mateo to sleep, I walked down to the kitchen to grab a glass of ice water. The hallway was dim,lit only by floor lights. As I passed the secondary parlor, the door stood slightly ajar, spilling a strip of warm light across the hardwood floor.
"...Vance is making moves on the northern shipping containers," a harsh voice said from inside. It was Marco, Luca's second-in-command, a man with a jagged scar across his jaw. "He knows the girl is here, Luca. He thinks you've gone soft because you took in a civilian."
"Julian Vance is a weak man playing at war," Luca's voice replied, deep, calm, and terrifyingly cold. "Let him think what he wants about Miss Bennett."
"And the girl herself?" Marco pressed. "She wanders around the estate like she owns the place. She knows too much just by being here. How long are we keeping her?"
I held my breath, shrinking against the cold wood of the corridor wall.
"Claire stays as long as Mateo needs her," Luca said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "She took blood for my son without asking who I was or what I could offer her. There isn't a man in this organization I trust more than her right now."
"Luca—"
"The conversation is over, Marco. Ensure security at the perimeter is doubled tonight. If Vance so much as breathes near our tree line, end him."
My heart pounded against my ribs like a trapped bird. I backed away slowly, retreating down the carpeted hall toward my bedroom. But as I turned the corner, a tall shadow stepped directly into my path.
I gasped, stumbling backward.
Luca caught my elbows, his grip firm and warm, steadying me before I could fall. He had exited the parlor through a side door without making a sound.
"Eavesdropping is a dangerous habit in this house, Claire," he murmured, his gaze sweeping over my face in the dim light. His breathing was slow, his presence overwhelming.
"I was getting water," I stammered, trying to pull back, but his hands remained resting lightly on my arms.
"Did you hear what you needed to hear?"
"I heard that people are hunting me because I saved your son," I said, anger flaring through my fear. "I heard that I'm collateral in your mob war!"
Luca didn't flinch. Instead, he leaned in slightly, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my chest tighten. "You are not collateral. I told you before, as long as you are under my roof, you are untouchable. I don't break promises."
May you like
For a long second, neither of us moved. The silence between us felt heavy, charged with a strange heat that had nothing to do with fear. Then he released my arms, stepping back into the shadows.
"Go back to bed, Claire. Tomorrow, we go to the city."
