Chapter 9 - A Waltz in the Light
My hand trembled as I placed it into Luca’s large, calloused palm.
The orchestra swelled into a breathtaking, sweeping waltz. Luca pulled me into the center of the grand ballroom floor, beneath the shimmering glow of three massive crystal chandeliers.
For a girl who had spent the last five years wearing worn-out sneakers and rubber gloves, being spun across a polished ballroom floor in the arms of Chicago's most powerful man felt like an impossible dream.
His hand rested firmly against the small of my back, guiding me with effortless strength and grace. Every time he turned me, the emerald silk of my dress caught the light, and I could feel the envious, awestruck eyes of the entire room following our every move.
"You look stunning, Hannah," Luca whispered, his dark eyes locked onto mine, completely ignoring the surrounding crowd.
"I feel like an imposter," I admitted softly, looking up into his handsome face. "Yesterday I was scrubbing your floorboards, Luca. Tonight I'm dancing in front of senators."
Luca smiled, a soft, incredibly tender expression that made my breath hitch.
"You were never an imposter," he said. "True royalty isn't about blood or money. It's about how you treat people who have nothing to offer you. You saw my mother broken and freezing, and you risked your entire future to shield her. That makes you more noble than any heiress in this city."
As we spun across the floor, I looked at his strong jaw, the steady confidence in his eyes, and the quiet vulnerability he only revealed when we were together. The terrifying mafia Don had vanished; in his place stood a man of honor, fierce loyalty, and deep, enduring gratitude.
"What will happen to Michael?" I asked quietly.
Luca’s expression grew serious, but the cold cruelty of the past had softened.
"My mother and Aunt Sofia asked for mercy," Luca said. "For my father's sake, I won't execute him. He has been stripped of the Moretti name and put on a one-way flight to a remote family vineyard in Sicily. He will live out his days under guard, working the soil, never allowed to return to America. He will never hurt my mother again."
"And the Bellinis?"
"Antonio signed the unconditional surrender of their shipping routes an hour ago to avoid the federal indictment," Luca said with a satisfied smirk. "Vanessa has been cut off from society. She will spend the rest of her life in obscurity in Florida. They are no longer a threat to us."
The music reached its grand crescendo, and Luca slowed our steps, pulling me closer against his chest until our faces were barely inches apart. I could feel the rapid, steady beat of his heart against my palm.
"And what happens to me, Luca?" I whispered, my heart fluttering wildly. "Now that the battle is won?"
Luca looked down at my lips, then back into my eyes, his gaze burning with raw, undeniable affection.
May you like
"Tomorrow," he murmured, "we go bring your mother home to the estate. Her new suite is right beside my mother's garden. And as for you, Hannah Collins... your journey with me is only just beginning."
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