Chapter 4
Luca Moretti did not draw a weapon, but his entire posture shifted into a stance of absolute, lethal readiness. He stood perfectly still in the dim, cinematic amber lighting of the VIP room, his piercing eyes locked onto the heavy oak door. The heavy brass doorknob rattled slightly as Marcus tested the lock from the outside.
"Mr. Moretti? Please respond," Marcus called out, his American accent laced with forced professional urgency. "Protocol dictates we evacuate the primary principals during a perimeter breach. Open the door, sir."
Luca turned his head slowly, making deliberate eye contact with Hannah. He raised a single finger to his lips, demanding absolute silence. The plus-sized waitress nodded frantically, her soft blonde-brown bun bobbing as she pulled the sleeping Sophia impossibly closer to her chest. Hannah’s mint-green service dress rustled faintly, the only sound in the suffocatingly tense room.
"What perimeter breach, Marcus?" Luca called back, his voice smooth, commanding, and entirely devoid of panic. He casually walked toward the door, his polished black dress shoes making no sound on the thick rug. "I ordered a lockdown, not an evacuation. Who breached the gala?"
"We have visual confirmation of armed hostiles in the lower service corridors, Boss," Marcus replied through the thick wood. "They matched the profile of the Falcone syndicate. They must have slipped in through the catering docks. It's not safe in there. Let me escort you and the girl to the convoy."
Luca stopped a foot away from the door. His sharp masculine jawline hardened. The catering docks. The exact place Hannah had been working all evening. The Falcone syndicate wasn't here to assassinate him in a crowded ballroom. They were here because one of their spotters had finally recognized the missing nurse who could identify their inside man. They were here for Hannah.
"I’m secure in the VIP room, Marcus," Luca stated coldly, leaning slightly toward the wood. "Hold your position in the hallway. Do not let anyone approach this door. I’m waiting for the tactical extraction team from the main estate."
There was a long, pregnant pause on the other side of the door.
"Boss, the extraction team is ten minutes out," Marcus argued, a subtle edge of desperate tension creeping into his voice. "We are sitting ducks here. Open the door."
"That is a direct order, Marcus," Luca growled, his voice vibrating with the terrifying, dark authority that had made him the king of Chicago. "If you touch that doorknob again, I will shoot you through the wood myself."
Silence fell over the hallway. Slowly, the shadow of Marcus’s feet beneath the door gap shifted as he stepped back, ostensibly complying with the order.
Luca turned back to Hannah. He crossed the room swiftly, dropping to one knee beside the leather sofa so he was eye-level with the trembling waitress. His dark tattoos shifted beneath the fabric of his open-collar shirt.
"They aren't here for me, Hannah," Luca whispered intensely, his piercing eyes locking onto hers. "They found you. They saw you on the catering staff roster, and Marcus realized you were the loose end from three years ago. He’s trying to get us out of this room so he can finish the job and claim the Falcones ambushed us in the hallway."
"Oh my God," Hannah whimpered, tears spilling over her fair, rosy cheeks. She looked down at Sophia’s peaceful, sleeping face. "I brought them right to her. I put her in danger again. I should have never come tonight."
"Look at me," Luca commanded gently, reaching out to place a warm, heavy hand over her trembling hands. "You gave my daughter a miracle tonight. You are under the protection of the Moretti family now. I swear on my life, no one is going to touch you or my daughter. But we cannot stay in this room. We have to move."
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"How?" Hannah asked, her voice shaking. "You just said your own head of security is waiting outside to kill us."
"We aren't taking the door," Luca replied coldly, looking toward the heavy velvet curtains covering the back wall of the room. "We are taking the service elevator."
