Chapter 4 - the silent contract
By noon, the estate was under heavy security protocol. Armed guards in dark suits stood posted along the perimeter walls, while Marco conducted a full sweep of the estate's communications.
Inside Luca's private library, surrounded by thousands of ancient leather-bound books and heavy dark oak furniture, Sophia sat on a leather sofa. In her lap rested her father's old, worn baking recipe book—a thick leather binder filled with handwritten family secret formulas that she had carried with her from home.
Luca stood by the tall glass windows, his muscular back turned to her as he spoke on his encrypted phone.
"He's not at his apartment," Luca said into the phone, his voice cold and controlled. "Check his secondary accounts. Find him."
He clicked the phone shut and turned around. He walked over to the coffee table in front of Sophia, sinking down into the armchair opposite her.
"Sophia," Luca began softly. "Show me the recipe book you brought."
Sophia looked confused, but handed the heavy leather binder across the table. Luca took it with his large hands, flipping past pages covered in scribbled measurements for buttercream and sourdough starters. Near the very back of the binder, hidden behind a double-lined fabric sleeve, Luca felt a stiff piece of cardstock.
He pulled it out. It was a folded sheet of ledger paper covered in dense columns of handwritten numbers, financial codes, and dates stretching back fifteen years.
Sophia leaned forward, her eyes wide with shock. "I've never seen those numbers before! My dad gave me that book yesterday before I left! He said it was my grandmother's legacy!"
Luca studied the codes with trained precision. "These aren't recipes, Sophia. These are offshore account routing numbers belonging to the Bellandi family—our main rivals in the city."
Sophia gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "My father... he's an accountant?"
"He used to be," Luca revealed quietly, setting the ledger paper down. "Fifteen years ago, before he bought the bakery, Arthur Bennett was the chief financial manager for the Bellandi syndicate. He disappeared with thirty million dollars of their money. The Bellandis have been hunting him ever since."
The truth washed over Sophia like a tidal wave of ice. Her father hadn't sent her here to pay off a personal debt. He had used her as a shield—placing her inside the home of the most powerful Mafia boss in the state, knowing the Bellandis wouldn't dare attack a Moretti bride without starting an all-out war.
"He used me," Sophia whispered, tears glistening in her bright brown eyes. "He sold me to you to save his own skin."
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Luca stood up, crossed the short distance between them, and knelt directly on the rug in front of her sofa. For a man of his massive size, the gesture was breathtakingly gentle. He reached up, his large, warm hand cupping her soft cheek, brushing away a falling tear with his thumb.
"He didn't sell you to me, Sophia," Luca said softly, his deep voice vibrating with absolute sincerity. "Because I never bought you. And as long as you are under my roof, no one—neither your father nor the Bellandis—will ever hurt you again."
