Chapter 3 - The Shadow in the Doorway
The warm light from the elegant event room was suddenly blocked.
Luca walked through the doorway, stepping out of the glittering gala and into the sterile brightness of the kitchen. He was a towering, heavily muscled man in his late thirties with dark, neatly styled hair and a sharp, trimmed beard. He wore a perfectly tailored navy blue suit jacket with a black lapel over a crisp, unbuttoned black shirt.
But it was the dark, intricate tattoos creeping up his neck that commanded absolute respect and terror. He was the head of the Moretti family, a man who had pulled his syndicate out of the violent underworld to build a legitimate, billionaire empire.
He didn't say a single word. He didn't have to.
Luca stopped a few feet away, his hands resting casually in his pockets. His expression was stern, observant, and radiated an intimidating, quiet authority that sucked all the oxygen out of the room. His cold, piercing eyes shifted from the trembling maid, to the towering stack of foil containers, and finally rested on his blonde sister.
The color completely drained from Victoria’s face. The arrogant, bossy tyrant vanished in a fraction of a second, replaced by a nervous, cornered animal.
She quickly smoothed down the fabric of her one-shoulder burgundy gown, forcing a tight, artificial smile as her older brother approached. She knew Luca’s temper. And she knew how fiercely protective he was of this specific charity project.
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She had to control the narrative before the maid could open her mouth.
👉 What desperate lie is Victoria about to tell her terrifying brother?
