Chapter 6 - Shadows of Retaliation
The scandal dominated the news for forty-eight hours.
Headlines across national business journals announced the public collapse of the Vance Empire: *VANCE LOGISTICS STOCK PLUMMETS FOLLOWING CHARGES AGAINST SOCIALITE DAUGHTER.* Arthur Vance resigned from three corporate boards, and Isabella was released on two-million-dollar bail, confined to her family’s suburban estate awaiting a criminal trial.
Inside the Moretti mansion, however, the air felt lighter than it had in years.
Without Isabella’s toxic presence, the vast house began to feel like a real home. Laughter echoed down the marble corridors. Sofia spent her afternoons baking sugar cookies with me in the chef’s kitchen, leaving flour handprints all over my apron while Mrs. Gable hummed Italian folk songs.
My ankle healed rapidly. Dr. Evans removed the heavy boot by the following week, clearing me to walk with only a light elastic wrap.
Yet, as much as my role was supposed to return to normal, nothing between Luca and me was the same.
He no longer worked until 2:00 AM at the corporate headquarters. He came home every evening by 6:00 PM. He ate dinner at the table with Sofia and me, listening intently as his daughter described her finger paintings, his eyes constantly drifting across the table to catch mine with quiet, smoldering affection.
"You're spoiling her, Mr. Moretti," I teased one sunny Tuesday afternoon.
We were sitting on a picnic blanket in the expansive rose gardens behind the manor. Sofia was chasing a golden butterfly near the stone fountain, her childish giggles floating across the warm spring breeze.
"I told you to call me Luca," he said, setting aside his espresso cup. He was dressed casually in a linen button-up and dark jeans, looking younger and remarkably at peace. "And I am not spoiling her. I am catching up on two years of lost time."
He looked at me, his gaze softening. "Before you came, this house was a mausoleum, Emma. I thought protecting Sofia meant building an impenetrable fortress around her. I didn't realize I was suffocating her. You brought life back into these walls."
My heart did a strange, dangerous flip in my chest. "She’s easy to love. It didn't take much."
"It took you," he insisted, reaching out to tuck a windblown strand of auburn hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered along my jawline, warm and electric. "And what about you, Emma? Are you happy here?"
"I've never been happier anywhere else," I admitted honestly, my voice barely a whisper.
Before he could answer, Luca’s phone vibrated violently against the iron garden table. He glanced at the caller ID; it was his head of security.
Luca answered immediately. "Marco, what is it?"
Whatever Marco said on the other end caused the color to drain from Luca’s face. He stood up instantly, his jaw tightening into rigid iron.
"When?" Luca demanded. "How did they breach the perimeter?"
Panic surged through my veins. I scrambled to my feet, my eyes instantly darting toward the stone fountain.
Sofia was gone.
"Luca!" I screamed, terror ripping through my throat. "Sofia!"
Just beyond the hedge line, fifty yards away near the service gate, an unmarked black SUV had its rear doors swung open. A masked man dressed in utility gear had scooped Sofia into his arms, muffling her screams with a heavy coat.
"Daddy! Emma!" Sofia’s muffled cry cut through the garden air.
"Sofia!" Luca roared, sprinting toward the gate with terrifying speed.
The kidnapper threw Sofia into the back seat and dove in after her. But the gate mechanism had stalled, partially blocked by a security bollard Marco had automatically raised from the gatehouse.
The SUV slammed on the gas, tires screeching against the gravel, attempting to ram through the barrier.
I didn't think. I didn't calculate the risk.
Adrenaline surged through my body, completely obliterating any lingering pain in my ankle. I cut across the flowerbeds at a dead sprint, angling toward the open driver’s side window before the vehicle could build momentum.
"Emma, stop!" Luca screamed behind me.
I ignored him. As the SUV lurched forward, I grabbed an ornamental iron garden shovel from the potting bench and hurled it with all my strength through the driver’s side window.
*CRASH!*
The glass shattered into a million pieces. The driver cried out in shock, losing control of the steering wheel. The SUV violently veered to the left, crashing hard into the stone gatehouse pillar with a deafening crunch of metal.
I reached the shattered rear door in seconds, wrenching it open. The kidnapper inside was disoriented from the impact, reaching for a weapon in his jacket.
"Get away from her!" I screamed, lunging inside the cabin. I grabbed Sofia by her dress, pulling her small body out of the wreckage and shielding her beneath my own frame as we tumbled onto the grass.
A second later, gunfire cracked through the air.
Luca arrived like a vengeful god. Behind him, Marco and four armed security guards swarmed the wrecked vehicle. Luca didn't hesitate; he tackled the armed man attempting to crawl out of the rear door, disarming him with two brutal, calculated strikes that knocked the attacker unconscious onto the gravel.
Marco pinned the driver, zip-tying his wrists behind his back.
"Clear!" Marco shouted. "Perimeter secured!"
I lay on the manicured grass, my arms locked tightly around Sofia, my body trembling violently. Sofia was sobbing into my chest, her little hands clutching my shirt.
"I've got you, baby," I sobbed, tears blurring my vision as I kissed her hair repeatedly. "You're safe. Emma’s got you."
A pair of heavy knees hit the grass beside us.
Luca pulled both of us into his massive arms, his chest heaving with ragged, terrified breaths. He buried his face in our hair, holding us so tightly I could feel the frantic, thunderous hammering of his heart against my ribs.
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"Thank God," Luca choked out, his voice breaking—the invincible titan of industry openly weeping. "Thank God."
***
