Chapter 8 - blood on the velvet
Luca walked across the polished dance floor like a panther stalking his prey, Marco following two paces behind him. The crowd naturally parted before Luca’s towering form.
Arthur Bennett backed away until his shoulders hit the balcony glass. "Luca... please! Let me explain!" Arthur whimpered, holding his hands up in panic. "I didn't mean for her to get hurt! I knew you would protect her! You were the only one big enough to keep her safe from Victor!"
Victor Bellandi stepped forward, his cold gray eyes glaring at Luca. "The girl belongs to my family as collateral for thirty million dollars stolen fifteen years ago, Moretti. Hand her over, and we maintain the peace."
Luca stopped three feet from Victor, drawing himself up to his full, terrifying height. "Sophia is my wife," Luca said, his voice dropping into a thunderous growl that silenced the surrounding guests. "She belongs to no one. Touch her, and I will tear your organization down to the foundation."
Suddenly, a loud crash shattered the grand chandelier overhead!
The ballroom lights plunged into pitch darkness. Screams erupted across the hall as panic broke out among the socialites.
In the dark, a gunshot echoed—a sharp, deafening crack!
"Sophia!" Luca roared through the darkness, turning his massive frame instantly back toward the staircase where he had left her.
A second shot fired, followed by the heavy sound of a body hitting the floor.
When the emergency backup lights flickered on ten seconds later, bathing the room in stark red light, the crowd gasped in horror.
Arthur Bennett lay on the marble floor near the balcony, disarmed and detained by Marco.
Standing near the center of the room was Sophia. She hadn't fled. She was standing over a fallen rogue gunman who had tried to flank Luca in the dark, holding a heavy silver champagne bucket she had swung with all her strength, knocking the assassin cold!
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Luca rushed across the floor, gathering Sophia into his arms, checking her face and hands with wild desperation. "Are you hurt? Did he touch you?"
Sophia looked up at her giant husband, her ruffled yellow gown slightly torn at the seam, her brown eyes burning with fiery spirit. "I told you, Luca... I attack people."
