Chapter 8 - The Price of Loyalty
I raised my eyebrows, meeting his piercing gaze. “Are you firing me, Mr. Moretti?”
“I am terminating your employment as a housekeeper,” he corrected, leaning back into his leather chair, his dark eyes studying every inch of my face with unabashed admiration. “You have a degree in business administration from DePaul University that you had to abandon when your father fell ill, correct?”
I stared at him in utter shock. “How do you know that?”
“I don't keep people under my roof without knowing who they are,” Luca replied smoothly. “I knew you took this job to pay off your father’s medical debts and protect your mother’s shop. I knew you worked seventy hours a week between this estate and the downtown conference centers without a single complaint.”
He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, closing the distance between us.
“For eight months, you stayed invisible because you had pride. You watched spoiled aristocrats like Vanessa treat you like an inconvenience, and you endured it to protect your family. And when the moment came to choose between looking away or risking your life to save mine, you didn’t hesitate.”
Luca’s voice dropped into a register that made my breath catch in my throat.
“I run a multi-billion-dollar empire, Grace. I am surrounded by hundreds of men who swear fealty to my face while calculating how much my corpse is worth to my enemies. Vanessa claimed she loved me, and she traded my life for debt relief.”
He reached across the corner of the table and took my hand. His touch was firm, possessive, yet intensely reverent.
“True loyalty cannot be bought with money,” Luca said softly. “It is forged in moments of crisis. Last night, you proved you have more courage, intelligence, and steel in your spine than every general in my organization.”
“Luca...” His name slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself. It was the first time I hadn't called him *Mr. Moretti*.
A faint, satisfied smile touched his lips at the sound of his name on my tongue.
“Vanessa is currently on a private transport to a federal detention facility in Virginia,” Luca explained, his thumb tracing slow, rhythmic circles against my knuckles. “She will face federal espionage and racketeering charges alongside Marcus Vance. The Bellini family has been stripped of their alliances and cast out of our circle permanently.”
“And you?” I asked, my heart pounding against my ribs at the sheer intensity of his gaze. “What happens to you now?”
“My position as the head of the Moretti syndicate is absolute,” he said without arrogance. “The rival families have already sent their envoys this morning to swear unconditional peace. But my house is empty, Grace.”
He didn't let go of my hand. If anything, his grip tightened, drawing me an inch closer.
“I don't need a decorative trophy bride from high society to smile at engagement dinners and plot behind my back,” Luca murmured, his dark eyes burning with an undeniable, intoxicating hunger. “I need a partner. A woman who sees through the smoke. A woman who stands beside me when the glass breaks and swings the brass lamp when my back is turned.”
My throat went dry. “You can't possibly mean...”
“I created a position for you this morning,” Luca said, pulling a second document from his breast pocket and sliding it across the table toward me.
I looked down at the heavy parchment.
*Grace Parker: Chief of Executive Operations and Personal Advisor to Luca Moretti.*
The salary listed at the bottom was more than I had earned in five years of backbreaking labor. It gave me full authority over the estate’s logistical operations, private staff, and direct oversight of Luca’s legitimate commercial holdings.
“This is insane,” I whispered, staring at the number on the paper. “People will talk. They know I was your housekeeper yesterday.”
“Let them talk,” Luca said coldly. “In my world, results command respect, not bloodlines. Anyone who questions your authority will answer directly to me.”
He paused, his eyes softening once more as he reached out and gently tilted my chin up with his index finger, forcing me to meet his gaze.
May you like
“That contract secures your professional future,” Luca added, his voice dropping to a husky whisper that made my pulse race wildly. “As for your personal future... that is entirely up to you. But I intend to spend every single day convincing you that your place belongs at my side. At this table. In this house. With me.”
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