Chapter 8 - The Daisy Diary
“Stay back!” I shouted, placing myself squarely between Marco and Lily.
“You’re out of your depth, sweetheart,” Marco mocked, taking a slow step forward on the wet concrete dock. “Luca is surrounded at the Black Pier. My father’s men have the tribunal locked down. Once I bring the girl to the pier, Luca will hand over the entire Moretti shipping empire just to hear her breathe.”
“You’re a coward,” I said, my voice steady despite the sheer terror pounding in my veins. “Targeting a child because you’re too weak to face Luca like a man.”
Marco’s smile vanished. “Shut up.”
He raised the pistol, aiming right between my eyes. “Give me the girl, or I put a hole in your skull.”
Lily screamed, clinging to my waist. “Leave Claire alone!”
Behind Marco, through the thick fog rolling across Lake Michigan, a dark silhouette emerged on the water. A sleek, matte-black tactical speedboat glided silently toward the dock, its engines completely muffled.
I needed to buy three seconds.
“Sarah left something else in that safe-deposit box, Marco,” I said loudly, keeping his eyes locked onto mine.
Marco frowned. “What?”
“A full ledger of your personal drug shipments through the Bellini docks. Luca already sent the files to federal prosecutors. You’re going to prison for life, even if you shoot me.”
Marco’s eyes widened with fury. “You lying little—”
Before he could pull the trigger, a single gunshot cracked through the fog.
Marco’s shoulder exploded in blood. He screamed, dropping the gun as he spun around.
Luca Moretti leaped from the bow of the speedboat onto the concrete dock like a shadow made of steel. In one fluid, brutal movement, Luca slammed Marco against the stone wall, disarming him and driving his forearm against Marco’s throat.
“You came for my daughter?” Luca’s voice was lower and colder than the frozen lake.
“Luca... please...” Marco gasped, choking for air as his feet dangled off the ground.
“You should have stayed at the pier with your father,” Luca whispered.
With a sickening crunch, Luca delivered a devastating blow that knocked Marco unconscious, letting him drop like a sack of stones onto the wet dock.
Luca spun around. His tuxedo jacket was torn, his knuckles bloodied, but the moment his eyes found Lily and me, the lethal rage vanished, replaced by sheer desperation.
“Lily!”
“Daddy!” Lily broke away from me and threw herself into Luca’s arms.
Luca dropped to his knees, burying his face in his daughter’s hair, holding her so tightly that his entire frame shook. “I’m here, baby. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
Over Lily’s shoulder, Luca looked up at me.
May you like
His eyes were filled with an overwhelming mixture of awe, gratitude, and an emotion so profound it took my breath away. He reached out with his bloodstained hand, gently cupping the side of my neck, pulling me down into the embrace.
I knelt on the wet concrete between them, wrapped in Luca’s strong arms, feeling the steady, powerful rhythm of his heartbeat against mine.
