Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Guest Wing|
"Who told you that, Theo?"
Luca's voice was quiet, but the question landed heavily in the room.
Theo squeezed his elephant.
"I heard Mr. Carlo talking to Uncle Matteo. They were in the library. Mr. Carlo said Bianca would be my new mother when you married her."
Sophie felt her heart strike hard against her ribs.
Luca looked toward Bianca.
"Leave."
Bianca's smile disappeared.
"Luca, please. The child misunderstood."
"I said leave."
She lifted her chin. For the first time since arriving at the mansion, she looked less like a polished businesswoman and more like someone whose plan had encountered an unexpected obstacle.
"Your father approved this arrangement."
"My father doesn't decide whom I marry."
"No," Bianca replied. "But he can decide who controls the company when you fail to protect it."
The words hung in the air.
Luca's expression turned cold.
"Get out of my bedroom."
Bianca glanced at Sophie before walking away. The door closed behind her with a soft click.
Theo looked between his parents.
"Are you marrying her?"
"No," Luca answered immediately.
Sophie almost laughed at the speed of the response. It was the first clear answer he'd given her in days.
Theo frowned.
"Then why did everyone say you were?"
Luca crouched in front of him.
"Because grown-ups sometimes make plans before they understand what they're doing."
"That's stupid."
"Yes," Luca said. "Sometimes it is."
Theo considered this, then hugged his father. Luca closed his eyes and held him tightly, as though the embrace might protect them both from what was coming.
Sophie watched them and remembered the man she'd married.
Luca had once waited outside a pediatric clinic for four hours because Theo had a fever. He had learned how to braid Sophie's hair badly because she was too exhausted to do it herself after their son's birth. He had promised that whatever darkness surrounded the Moretti name, their child would never have to live inside it.
Somewhere along the way, those promises had become easier to forget than to keep.
When Theo returned to bed, Sophie followed him and tucked the elephant beneath his arm.
"Will you stay?" he whispered.
"Tonight, yes."
"Promise?"
She kissed his forehead.
"I promise I'll do everything I can to keep you safe."
It was the most honest answer she could give.
Back in their bedroom, Luca stood beside the suitcase.
"Carlo has been pressuring me to merge our organizations," he said. "Bianca is involved in the financial negotiations. That's all."
"Then why did your father-in-law tell people you were marrying her?"
"He isn't my father-in-law."
"Yet."
Luca rubbed a hand over his face.
"I haven't agreed to anything."
"You let her move into our home. You let her sit in your chair at dinner. You let her speak about our son as if she has a right to him."
"I was trying to prevent a war."
"And you thought the easiest way was to make your wife feel like a stranger in her own house?"
He had no answer.
Sophie zipped the suitcase closed.
"I don't need you to love me perfectly, Luca. I need you to tell me the truth."
He looked at her, and for one brief second, she thought he might finally speak.
Instead, his phone rang.
The screen displayed a single name: DON VITTORIO.
Luca answered.
May you like
A man's voice emerged, low and unmistakably angry.
"Your father has been attacked. And the men who did it are asking for your son."
