Chapter 45 - The Iron Bastion
"You're awake," Luca said, stepping into the cabin. The fatigue was etched deep into the harsh lines of his face, his jaw dark with heavy stubble, but the moment he saw me sit up, the tension in his shoulders visibly loosened.
Carmela rose gracefully from her chair, kissing her son's cheek as she passed him. "I will give you two a moment. Dante needs me to review the supply manifests." She paused at the door, glancing back at me with a soft, knowing nod before slipping out into the corridor.
The heavy steel door clicked shut. Luca crossed the room in two long strides, dropping to one knee beside the sofa. He reached out, his calloused fingertips hesitating for a fraction of a second before gently brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. His skin was warm against mine.
"You terrified me, Sophie," he murmured, his voice thick with raw emotion. "When that bullet hit you... I felt the world end."
"I told you I wasn't fragile," I whispered, resting my uninjured right hand over his. "You jumped off a seventy-story building with me, Luca. A bullet isn't going to get rid of me that easily."
A ghost of a smirk played on his lips, though his eyes remained fiercely intense. "Good. Because running this family without you isn't an option anymore."
He leaned down, pressing his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of cedar, gunpowder, and the distinct, grounding essence of him. In the midst of all the blood and fire, this small circle of warmth was the only anchor keeping me sane.
"My mother told you," he stated quietly, noticing the open lockbox and the photograph on the table.
"She did," I said, opening my eyes to search his dark gaze. "Did you know? Did you know who I was when you brought me into your study?"
"Not at first," Luca admitted, his jaw tightening. "I only knew that Antonio was terrified of you. When Vanessa tried to frame you for that garage incident, and when Antonio pressured me to have you executed without a trial... that was the anomaly. A Don does not concern himself with a maid. So I had Dante dig through the black archives in Milan."
He took my right hand, turning it palm-up, tracing the scars on my palm with his thumb. "You belong here, Sophie. Not because of your bloodline, but because of who you are. But right now, Antonio's allies are preparing to carve up the city. We are sailing for San Lorenzo. The Fortress."
"The Fortress?"
May you like
"An old coastal citadel my grandfather built into the cliffs of Rhode Island," Luca explained, standing tall again, the mantle of the Mafia boss settling heavily over his shoulders. "Three-foot-thick stone walls, anti-aircraft emplacements, and fifty loyal soldiers who answer only to my mother and me. We fortify. We call in our debts. And then we execute every traitor who stood with Antonio."
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