“If You Want Her, Fine—Just Let Me Take Our Son,” His Wife Said—The Mafia Boss Went Silent

Carlo Rinaldi invited Luca to dinner that evening.

The invitation arrived on heavy cream paper, delivered by a driver who waited at the gate until Luca accepted it. The message was simple: We need to discuss the future of our families.

Luca intended to refuse.

Sophie read the invitation over his shoulder.

"Go."

He turned toward her.

"You want me to meet the man who may be threatening our child?"

"I want you to find out what he knows. And I want you to stop making decisions about our safety without telling me."

"I can handle Carlo."

"You said you could handle Bianca. Look where that got us."

The silence between them was painful because she was right.

Luca slipped the invitation into his pocket.

"Enzo will stay here. The gates will remain locked. Theo won't leave your side."

"And if Carlo asks about the document?"

"I'll tell him I know it's missing."

Sophie shook her head.

"No. Tell him you know it was stolen. Make him wonder how much you know."

For the first time in days, Luca looked at his wife not as someone he needed to protect from the truth, but as someone who might help him uncover it.

At the Rinaldi estate, Carlo welcomed him into a dining room lined with family portraits. Bianca sat at his right hand, wearing a dark green dress and the same red-stoned ring.

"Your wife didn't join us?" Carlo asked.

"She wasn't invited."

"Perhaps she should have been. Family discussions are easier when everyone understands their place."

Luca sat down.

"Then let's discuss mine."

Carlo's smile thinned.

He spoke of business, old debts, the need for stability, and the danger of allowing personal sentiment to weaken an empire. Bianca remained quiet, watching Luca over the rim of her glass.

Finally, Carlo placed a document on the table.

"Your father has become unreliable. The board needs a succession plan that protects the company."

Luca recognized the revised agreement.

It named Bianca as Theo's legal guardian if Luca or Sophie became incapacitated. It also gave a trustee appointed by Carlo authority over the child's inheritance.

"This is a forgery."

Carlo didn't blink.

"It's a proposal."

"It carries my signature."

"Then perhaps you should be more careful about where you sign things."

Luca felt fury rising, but he kept his expression controlled.

"Who has access to my signature?"

"Your lawyers. Your advisers. Your wife, perhaps."

The suggestion was deliberate.

Luca leaned forward.

"Don't mention Sophie again."

Bianca finally spoke.

"You keep choosing her over everything we've built."

"We built nothing."

"We had an agreement."

"We had negotiations. You mistook them for a promise."

Carlo lifted a hand.

"Enough. The merger will proceed, and Bianca will become part of your household permanently. If you refuse, the consequences will reach beyond business."

Luca rose.

"Threatening my family is the fastest way to lose yours."

Carlo's expression hardened.

"You should ask your father what happened to your older brother."

Luca froze.

His older brother, Adrian, had died in a car crash before Luca turned twenty. The family had always said the accident was caused by a drunk driver.

Carlo slid a photograph across the table.

It showed Adrian standing beside a younger Carlo, outside a warehouse.

On the back, someone had written a date.

The date was three days before Adrian's death.