Chapter 5 - THE LINING OF THE DRESS
Luca stared at the piece of folded cardstock in my trembling hand.
The rain washed over the glossy paper, but the printed text remained perfectly legible: a dense series of complex routing numbers, offshore bank accounts, and alphanumeric passwords.
“Where did you get this?” Luca asked, swiftly pushing me and Leo into the safety of the armored SUV and slamming the door shut.
“When Vanessa demanded I fix the hem of her gown this afternoon, I noticed a tear in the bodice lining,” I explained, my voice shaking as I settled Leo into the backseat, making sure his seatbelt was tight. “I felt something stiff inside. I pulled it out to avoid breaking my needle. I forgot I had it.”
Luca took the card from me. His eyes scanned the numbers as he started the engine.
“These aren’t just bank accounts,” Luca said, his voice dropping an octave. “These are the master decryption keys to the Moretti family’s entire digital ledger. If Julian enters these into our servers, he drains everything. My legitimate businesses, the employee pensions, the charity funds. Everything.”
“He used his own bride as a mule,” I realized, feeling sick to my stomach. “He hid the codes in her dress because no one searches a bride on her wedding day.”
“Exactly,” Luca said, slamming his foot on the gas. “He planned to walk out of the reception with her, take the codes, and leave me bankrupt and broken. But now, he knows the codes are missing. And Vanessa told him you were the last one to touch the dress.”
Leo whimpered from the backseat, clutching his stitched-up elephant. “Is the bad man coming?”
Luca looked in the rearview mirror, his expression softening instantly for the child. “No, Leo. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Or Sophie.”
We didn't head back toward the estate. Instead, Luca drove us deep into the industrial district, pulling into a massive, hidden underground parking garage beneath a sleek, anonymous high-rise.
“This is my secure safehouse,” Luca explained, swiping a keycard. Heavy steel doors rolled shut behind us, cutting off the sound of the rain. “Nobody knows about this place. We’ll be safe here until my men track Julian down.”
We took a private, biometric elevator to the penthouse. It was breathtaking—floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the glittering Chicago skyline, modern furniture, and a massive, pristine kitchen.
But it felt empty. Lonely. Like a place a man went to hide, not to live.
I set Leo down on the plush rug. The boy looked around, his eyes wide with awe.
“Are you hungry, Leo?” I asked gently.
He nodded shyly.
I walked into the kitchen and opened the massive refrigerator. It was fully stocked, but entirely untouched. I quickly made a grilled cheese sandwich and cut it into small squares, pouring a glass of milk.
When I brought the plate back to the living room, I stopped in the doorway.
Luca was sitting on the floor a few feet away from Leo. He hadn’t forced his way closer. He had simply taken off his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves—leaving the snake tattoo fully visible—and placed a bowl of fresh strawberries between them.
“My brother Mateo used to eat strawberries until he was sick,” Luca was saying softly, his voice devoid of any intimidation. “He was your dad. He was the bravest man I ever knew.”
Leo looked at the tattoo, then at Luca’s face. “Why did Uncle Julian say you hurt him?”
“Because Julian is a coward,” Luca said honestly, not talking down to the boy. “He wanted to take what belonged to our family. And he knew the only way to beat me was to break my heart. So he took you.”
Leo slowly reached out and took a strawberry.
“Did you love my daddy?” the boy asked.
“More than anything,” Luca whispered.
I watched the hardened mafia boss wipe a tear from his eye, and my perspective shifted entirely. He wasn’t a monster. He was a protector who had been stripped of everything he loved, forced to wear a mask of cruelty to survive.
Suddenly, the penthouse alarm system blared, a piercing, deafening siren that bathed the room in flashing red light.
Luca was on his feet in an instant, pulling a weapon from his holster.
“How did they find us?” I gasped, rushing to pull Leo behind the heavy marble kitchen island.
Luca looked at the security feed on the wall monitor. The screen showed the elevator doors in the lobby being pried open by heavily armed men. Leading them was Julian.
Beside him stood Vanessa, pointing up toward the camera.
Luca looked at the screen, then looked down at the floor near my feet.
There, fallen from the pocket of my apron when I bent down to pick up Leo, was a small, blinking GPS tracker.
May you like
Vanessa hadn’t just been crying on the floor of the mansion.
She had slipped it into my pocket when she leaned in and threatened me.
