Chapter 3 - The Price of Protection and the Deal Signed in Blood
Dr. Marchetti was remarkably gentle. Within forty-five minutes, she had strapped my ankle into a high-grade orthopedic boot, administered a localized anti-inflammatory injection that immediately dulled the throbbing fire, and thoroughly checked Emma’s vitals.
After ensuring Emma was sound asleep in one of the lavish guest suites upstairs with Mrs. Chen watching over her, Dante escorted me down a long, art-lined hallway to Luca’s private study.
The study smelled of aged scotch, leather-bound books, and rich mahogany. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the stormy, black waters of Puget Sound, where waves crashed violently against the rocky cliffs below.
Luca sat behind a massive desk carved from a single slab of dark oak. He had shed his suit jacket and rolled his crisp white shirt sleeves up to his forearms, revealing corded muscle and another intricate tattoo—a sprawling black serpent coiled around a dagger—etched into his inner forearm.
He motioned toward the leather chair opposite him. "Sit."
I limped forward, the supportive boot making a rhythmic thud-clack against the hardwood floor, and took a seat.
"You brought my daughter and my babysitter here under false pretenses," I began, folding my arms tightly across my chest. "You have armed guards at the gates. You know everything about my life. Now tell me what you really want, Mr. Castellano."
Luca poured two fingers of amber liquid into a crystal tumbler, pushed it across the desk toward me, and leaned back in his leather high-back chair.
"Four years ago, your father, Arthur Carter, ran a mid-sized maritime logistics firm operating out of the Port of Seattle," Luca said, his voice smooth and steady.
A lump formed in my throat. "My father died of a heart attack. His company went bankrupt."
"His company did not go bankrupt by accident," Luca said, his dark eyes locking onto mine with chilling clarity. "And his heart attack was triggered when he discovered that his trusted junior partner—Jake Martinez—had embezzled four million dollars and transferred the shipping manifests into the hands of the Moretti crime family."
I felt the blood drain from my face. "What?"
"Jake didn't just ruin you, Ava. He was an operative placed inside your father's firm by Don Carmine Moretti to steal my family's shipping routes." Luca’s expression hardened, the air in the room suddenly dropping ten degrees. "Your father was an honorable man. He refused to let the Morettis use his docks for human trafficking and narcotics. When he threatened to go to the federal authorities, Jake altered the financial books, framed Arthur for corporate fraud, and drained his accounts. The stress killed your father forty-eight hours before the FBI was scheduled to interview him."
"No..." I gasped, pressing a hand to my mouth. "No, no... Jake loved my father. He cried at the funeral!"
"Jake is a sociopath who uses people until they are dry husks, then discards them," Luca said coldly. "He stayed with you long enough to secure the remainder of your father’s personal assets. Once the inheritance was in his accounts, he ran. But Jake made one critical error."
"What error?"
"He thought he was smarter than the Morettis. He gambled away their money in Macau and underground casinos in Vancouver. Now, Don Moretti wants his money back—or he wants the Castellano territory."
Luca stood up, walking slowly around the perimeter of the desk until he stood directly in front of me. He was so tall, so commanding, that his shadow completely swallowed me.
"Moretti knows that I control the port," Luca continued. "Jake approached Moretti with an offer: he would deliver Arthur Carter’s daughter and granddaughter as leverage. Moretti believes that because of my historical ties to your father, I would surrender key docklands to ensure your safety."
I stared at him, my mind spinning into a vortex of confusion. "Your ties to my father? My father never mentioned you. He was a legitimate businessman!"
"Your father saved my life when I was nineteen years old, Ava," Luca said quietly, looking down at me with an intensity that made my breath catch. "He pulled me out of a burning warehouse during the first syndicate war. He never asked for money. He never asked for favors. He only asked for one thing."
"What?" I whispered.
"He made me swear that if anything ever happened to him, I would protect his daughter."
A heavy, suffocating silence descended upon the study. The rain beat mercilessly against the glass.
"For eighteen months, I searched for you," Luca said, his voice dropping to a low, raw cadence. "Jake had hidden you well under altered records, moving you from shelter to shelter, keeping you destitute so you couldn't seek legal aid. I only located you four days ago."
"So... this isn't about business?" I asked, my voice trembling. "This is about an old debt?"
"It is about both," Luca said, pulling a leather folder from his desk and opening it. Inside lay a legal document. "The Morettis will strike tomorrow night. Jake knows the layout of your old apartment. If they find you gone, they will scour the city. The only way to ensure Emma’s absolute, untouchable safety is to make you completely off-limits to every syndicate on the West Coast."
I looked at the header of the legal document.
MARRIAGE CONTRACT & POWER OF ATTORNEY.
My breath hitched. "You... you want me to marry you?"
"In the eyes of the law, and in the eyes of the underworld," Luca said, his eyes dark and unwavering. "A mafia boss’s wife and child are sovereign. If Moretti touches you while you carry the Castellano name, it triggers an all-out blood war with every family in the Commission. They won't risk it."
"And if I refuse?"
Luca leaned down, placing both hands on the arms of my chair, trapping me in his intoxicating, dangerous space.
"If you refuse, I will put you on a private plane to Zurich tonight with a new identity and ten million dollars," he whispered, his lips inches from mine. "You will be safe. But you will spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, jumping at every shadow, wondering when Jake will find you."
May you like
He paused, his whiskey eyes boring into my soul.
"Or you stay here. You marry me. You let me destroy the men who ruined your family. And you give Emma a life where she will never, ever be hungry, cold, or afraid again."
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