Matteo Moretti welcomed them home with champagne.
That was how Sophia knew he was dangerous.
Nobody offered champagne to a family that had survived two shootings, an arson attack, and an exploding sailboat unless they were either insane or trying far too hard to appear relaxed.
Matteo stood in the estate library wearing a navy suit and a warm smile.
He was sixty, silver-haired, elegant, and nothing like Luca physically.
Where Luca filled a room by entering it, Matteo seemed to disappear into one.
Smooth.
Polished.
Forgettable if he wanted to be.
“Sophia,” he said, taking her hands. “At last.”
She resisted the urge to pull away.
“Uncle Matteo.”
His smile deepened.
“So you’ve been properly instructed.”
“Family trees are apparently important when everyone wants to kill each other.”
Elena coughed to hide a laugh.
Matteo studied Sophia.
“I see why Luca chose you.”
Behind her, Luca went still.
Sophia smiled sweetly.
“That makes one of us.”
Matteo laughed.
Luca did not.
They had agreed during the flight from Boston not to reveal what Elena suspected.
They needed proof.
The ledger was hidden elsewhere.
Daniel had been taken to a secure medical facility under Moretti protection.
Sophia remained furious with him.
But he was her father.
Love did not disappear simply because trust did.
It became more complicated.
More painful.
Matteo poured champagne.
“To the bride.”
Sophia accepted the glass but did not drink.
“To surviving the wedding,” she said.
His eyes flickered.
Only once.
But she saw it.
So did Luca.
“How terrible,” Matteo said. “Rinaldi has become reckless.”
“Has he?”
“Desperate men often do.”
Sophia tilted her head.
“What are they desperate for?”
Matteo’s smile remained.
“Power.”
That evening, Sophia stood in her bedroom while Elena helped remove pins from her hair.
“You saw his face?”
“Yes.”
“He knew about the shooting before anyone told him.”
Sophia turned.
“How do you know?”
“When I mentioned the chapel window, he said he hoped the priest wasn’t hurt.”
Sophia frowned.
“That could be normal.”
“The priest was standing behind the altar. Nobody outside this estate knew he was there.”
Sophia’s skin prickled.
“Maybe one of the guards told him.”
“Maybe.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“No.”
Sophia sat at the dressing table.
“How long have you suspected him?”
“Six months.”
“Why didn’t you tell Luca?”
Elena looked toward the door.
“Because Matteo helped raise us after our parents died.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“It does.”
Sophia understood.
Matteo had been family.
A father figure.
Accusing him without proof could destroy Luca.
“Does Matteo know about the council ultimatum?”
“He wrote it.”
Sophia turned sharply.
“What?”
“He convinced the council that Luca needed a wife before thirty-five.”
“Why?”
“I thought it was tradition.”
“And now?”
Elena’s face hardened.
“Now I think he wanted Luca desperate enough to marry someone controllable.”
Sophia laughed once.
“He chose poorly.”
“He didn’t choose you.”
“My father did.”
Elena looked at her.
“Did he?”
Sophia’s smile disappeared.
“What do you mean?”
“Who told Daniel that marriage would erase his debt?”
Sophia thought.
“My father said someone approached him.”
“Who?”
“He never said.”
The answer sat between them.
Matteo.
Sophia stood.
“He arranged it.”
“Maybe.”
“He knew Luca had seen me before.”
“Possibly.”
“He knew Luca might accept.”
“Yes.”
Sophia paced.
“But why?”
“Because he thought you would leave.”
The idea struck like ice.
Elena continued.
“You were never meant to become Luca’s loyal wife. You were meant to reject him like the others.”
Sophia stared.
“And if I did?”
“Luca would lose control of the companies at thirty-five.”
“To the council.”
“A council Matteo influences.”
Sophia whispered, “And eventually Matteo takes over.”
“Yes.”
“But I stayed.”
Elena gave a grim smile.
“You ruined everything by liking my brother.”
“I didn’t say I liked him.”
“You married him.”
“That was complicated.”
“You threatened a Mafia rival with a rolling pin.”
“That was personal.”
Elena folded her arms.
“You look at Luca like you’re trying to decide whether to kiss him or yell at him.”
“Those feelings coexist.”
“Welcome to marriage.”
Sophia sat again.
“So Matteo and Rinaldi are partners.”
“We need proof.”
“How?”
Elena smiled.
Sophia disliked that smile immediately.
“What?”
“My brother thinks you’re reckless.”
“He’s not wrong.”
“Matteo thinks you’re harmless.”
Sophia’s eyes narrowed.
“That sounds useful.”
It was.
The next morning, Sophia announced at breakfast that she was leaving.
Luca nearly broke his coffee cup.
“You’re what?”
“Going home.”
Matteo sat across the table.
Elena buttered toast as if nothing unusual was happening.
Sophia refused to look at Luca for too long.
They had not told him the plan.
Elena insisted his reaction needed to be genuine.
It was extremely genuine.
“You said you weren’t leaving.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Because of the attacks?”
“Because of you.”
Luca’s face changed.
Sophia nearly abandoned the entire plan.
“You lied to me,” she continued.
“Sophia.”
“You needed a wife.”
“I told you—”
“After Rinaldi told me.”
His jaw tightened.
Matteo watched silently.
Sophia stood.
“I’m done.”
Luca rose too.
The difference in their size would have been comical under other circumstances.
“Can we discuss this privately?”
“No.”
“Sophia.”
“I want to go home.”
His face closed.
That was worse than anger.
“Fine.”
One word.
Flat.
Resigned.
He looked exactly as he had the first day.
A man who had already seen the ending.
Sophia hated herself.
Matteo placed a sympathetic hand near her elbow.
“Perhaps this is for the best.”
Luca’s eyes dropped to the hand.
Matteo removed it.
Sophia forced herself to nod.
“I’ll pack.”
She walked upstairs before the guilt on her face could betray her.
Two hours later, the trap worked.
Matteo came to her room.
Sophia was alone.
Or appeared to be.
Elena listened from the adjoining dressing room.
Marco had placed a recorder beneath the table.
“You’re making the sensible decision,” Matteo said.
Sophia folded a dress.
“Luca doesn’t seem to think so.”
“My nephew has always struggled to understand that affection cannot be forced.”
Sophia looked at him.
“He didn’t force me.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Then why leave?”
“Because nobody told me the truth.”
Matteo sighed.
“You’re young.”
“I’m thirty.”
“To me, that is young.”
He sat.
“Luca’s world consumes people, Sophia.”
“You sound like you care about him.”
“I do.”
“Then why help Rinaldi?”
The silence was absolute.
Sophia’s heart slammed against her ribs.
Matteo smiled.
“Excuse me?”
She shrugged casually.
“Worth trying.”
His smile remained.
But his eyes changed.
Danger.
Real danger.
Sophia suddenly understood why Luca’s presence had never frightened her.
Luca wore his danger openly.
Matteo hid his behind kindness.
“I think,” he said quietly, “you’ve misunderstood more than you realize.”
“Then explain it.”
“You should leave today.”
“I’m planning to.”
“And forget all of this.”
“Hard.”
“You’re a baker from Boston. You have a life waiting.”
“My bakery is ash.”
“That can be rebuilt.”
Sophia’s eyes sharpened.
“With what?”
“Money.”
“Whose?”
“Mine, if necessary.”
There.
Too eager.
Sophia pushed.
“Why would you pay?”
“Because I feel responsible for what happened.”
“Why?”
Matteo realized it.
One second too late.
Sophia saw the mistake register.
He stood.
“I should go.”
“Probably.”
He reached the door.
Then stopped.
“Where is the ledger?”
Sophia’s pulse exploded.
“What ledger?”
Matteo turned slowly.
“Elena told me you found something in Boston.”
Sophia smiled.
“No, she didn’t.”
His face went still.
Because Elena definitely had not.
Sophia stepped backward.
Matteo locked the door.
The click sounded very loud.
“You’re clever,” he said.
“People confuse clumsy with stupid.”
“A mistake.”
“Constantly.”
He approached.
Sophia’s mouth went dry.
In the dressing room, Elena remained hidden.
Why?
Then Sophia understood.
They needed more.
“Did you burn my bakery?”
“No.”
“Rinaldi?”
“Yes.”
“You told him where to find the ledger.”
“I told him where Daniel Bennett lived.”
Sophia’s anger broke through her fear.
“You nearly got my father killed.”
“Your father made choices.”
“So did you.”
Matteo’s pleasant mask disappeared.
“My brother left this family to a boy.”
“Luca was twenty-four.”
“A boy. Huge, angry, grieving. He had no understanding of what it took to protect an empire.”
“And you did?”
“I built half of it.”
“So you think it belongs to you.”
“I know it does.”
Sophia’s eyes moved toward the locked door.
Matteo noticed.
“Don’t bother.”
Then his hand disappeared inside his jacket.
Sophia stopped breathing.
He pulled out a pistol.
“You really are proving every stereotype today.”
“Where is the ledger?”
“I don’t know.”
He aimed the weapon.
“You’re a poor liar.”
“That’s what everyone tells me.”
“Last chance.”
The dressing room door opened.
Elena stepped out with a gun.
“Put it down.”
Matteo’s face changed.
“Elena.”
“Gun down.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
His weapon shifted toward her.
Sophia grabbed the nearest thing.
A lamp.
She threw it.
Her aim was terrible.
Naturally.
The lamp missed Matteo.
But it hit the wall beside him, startling him for half a second.
Elena fired.
The bullet hit his shoulder.
Matteo went down.
The bedroom door exploded inward.
Luca entered with Marco and three guards.
He saw Sophia.
Saw Matteo.
Saw the gun.
His face became murderous.
He crossed the room and kicked Matteo’s weapon away.
Then he turned to Sophia.
“You’re hurt?”
“No.”
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
“You lied to me.”
Sophia blinked.
“That is what you’re focusing on?”
“You told me you were leaving.”
“It was a trap.”
“I didn’t know that!”
His voice cracked across the room.
Everyone went silent.
Luca stared down at her.
“You let me believe you were leaving.”
Sophia’s anger softened instantly.
“Luca…”
“Do you have any idea—”
He stopped.
His chest rose.
Fell.
Sophia realized his hands were trembling.
This giant man who could break another man with terrifying ease was shaking because he had believed she didn’t want him.
“I’m sorry.”
His jaw tightened.
“Don’t do that again.”
“The lying or the almost getting shot?”
“Either.”
“That seems fair.”
Matteo groaned from the floor.
Luca’s face turned cold again.
“You betrayed my father.”
Matteo laughed bitterly.
“Your father betrayed me first.”
“You worked with Rinaldi.”
“I did what was necessary.”
“To take control.”
“To save what should have been mine!”
Luca stared at him.
Then Matteo smiled.
“You think you won because the little American married you?”
Luca’s body went still.
Matteo looked at Sophia.
“He’ll ruin you eventually. Perhaps not today. Perhaps not tomorrow. But men like Luca destroy everything soft enough to love them.”
Sophia walked forward.
Luca caught her wrist.
She gently removed his hand.
Then she stood over Matteo.
“You’re wrong about him.”
Matteo smiled.
“Already defending your husband?”
“Yes.”
“After less than a week?”
Sophia looked back at Luca.
His expression was unreadable.
She turned to Matteo.
“Luca had power over me and gave me choices. You pretended to care about him while trying to steal everything he built.”
She leaned closer.
“Being dangerous doesn’t make someone a monster.”
Matteo’s smile faded.
“Choosing betrayal does.”
Marco took him away.
The room emptied slowly.
Elena followed.
Soon only Luca and Sophia remained.
He walked toward the broken window.
Sophia approached behind him.
“You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“At me?”
“Yes.”
“Fair.”
“You could have been killed.”
“Yes.”
“I would have told you not to do it.”
“That’s why Elena didn’t tell you.”
“I’m also angry at Elena.”
“I assumed.”
Silence.
Sophia touched his sleeve.
“Luca.”
He turned.
His eyes were bright with something she had never seen there.
“When you said you were leaving…”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
His voice dropped.
“I expected it. I told myself I expected it.”
Her chest hurt.
“But?”
“It didn’t help.”
Sophia stepped closer.
“I’m not leaving.”
“You should.”
“Stop.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
“You don’t know what happens now.”
“Neither do you.”
“Rinaldi is still alive.”
“Unfortunately.”
“My uncle betrayed us.”
“Also unfortunate.”
“You could still walk away.”
Sophia stared at him.
Then she grabbed his tie.
Luca’s eyes widened.
“What are you doing?”
“Something I’ve been thinking about since yesterday.”
She pulled.
He bent instinctively.
Sophia kissed him.
Not carefully this time.
Not politely.
Luca froze.
Then his hands settled around her waist.
He kissed her back with a restraint that lasted maybe three seconds.
When they finally separated, Sophia was breathless.
“So,” she whispered, “are we done discussing whether I’m leaving?”
Luca looked at her as if the entire world had changed shape.
“For tonight.”
She smiled.
Then Marco rushed into the room.
Luca closed his eyes.
“What now?”
Marco held up his phone.
“Rinaldi released a video.”
Luca’s expression hardened.
They watched.
Vittorio Rinaldi sat behind a desk.
Calm.
Elegant.
Smiling.
“To Luca Moretti,” he said, “congratulations on discovering one traitor.”
He lifted a glass.
“But you made one mistake.”
Sophia’s stomach tightened.
Rinaldi smiled into the camera.
“You assumed Matteo was the only one.”
The video ended.
Behind them, the estate lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
And somewhere downstairs, a woman screamed.