Chapter 5 - Unmasking the SerpentThe main drawing room of the Moretti estate blazed with crystal light.
Vivian Vance sat regally on the white leather sofa, sipping a glass of vintage champagne, looking completely at ease. Across from her sat two corporate lawyers she had hired independently, their briefcases open, filled with power-of-attorney documents awaiting a signature that Isabella was no longer capable of giving legally, but which Vivian intended to forge tonight while Luca was supposedly distracted by estate security.
The double doors of the drawing room swung open with a heavy bang.
Vivian turned with a radiant, practiced smile, expecting to see Luca returning from securing the perimeter. Instead, her smile froze into absolute horror.
Luca strode into the room, his coat trailing behind him like a storm cloud. And right beside him, walking with her head held high in a dry maid’s uniform borrowed from the laundry room, was Naomi.
“Luca!” Vivian gasped, hastily setting her champagne flute down on the glass coffee table, liquid sloshing over the rim. “What is she doing here? Your guards said she broke in! Why is she—?”
“Shut up, Vivian,” Luca said. The three words carried the weight of an executioner's axe.
Vivian paled, standing up. “Wh-What? You’re listening to a servant over your future wife? After what she did to your mother?”
“My mother,” Luca said, his voice slicing through the room as he closed the distance between them, “is resting comfortably upstairs under the care of a trusted physician. Which leaves you and me down here with some unfinished business.”
He tossed the wet notary receipt and the forged asset transfer papers directly onto the coffee table, scattering Vivian’s clean legal documents.
Vivian stared at the papers, her breath hitching. Her hands began to tremble. “Those... those are fake! She planted them! Naomi is trying to frame me because she got fired!”
“The notary office has security camera footage of you signing these documents three days ago,” Luca replied smoothly, his eyes narrowing into cold, lethal slits. “And my security system recorded you locking the music room door from the inside while my mother screamed for help.”
The two corporate lawyers sitting on the sofa instantly slammed their briefcases shut, standing up and backing away toward the door like frightened ghosts. They wanted no part of a mafia blood feud.
“Get out,” Luca told the lawyers without taking his eyes off Vivian. They didn't need to be told twice; they bolted from the room, the heavy doors clicking shut behind them.
Vivian’s facade crumbled instantly. The sweet, innocent fiancée vanished, replaced by a desperate, cornered animal. She lunged forward, grabbing Luca’s arm, tears streaming down her face—real tears of pure terror this time.
“Luca, please! I did it for us! We’re building an empire, we needed—”
Luca yanked his arm away as if her touch were toxic. He didn't yell. He didn't threaten her with violence. He simply looked at her with absolute, soul-crushing disgust.
“You thought you could manipulate my family, steal my mother’s legacy, and use my name as a shield,” Luca said quietly. He raised his wrist and tapped his watch. “In three minutes, two things are going to happen. First, my men are going to escort you off these grounds with every single designer bag you brought into this house tossed into the mud. Second, if you ever step foot in this city again, you will find out why they call me the butcher of the harbor.”
Vivian staggered backward, her legs shaking so violently she nearly fell over the sofa. She realized there was no escape, no bluff left to play. She cast one venomous, murderous glare at Naomi standing by the door before turning and fleeing the room, her sobs echoing down the marble hallway.
When the heavy doors finally closed behind her, a profound, heavy silence settled over the room.
Naomi let out a breath she felt like she’d been holding for a century. Her knees felt weak. She turned toward the exit, murmuring quietly, “I’ll... I’ll go pack my bag properly this time, Mr. Moretti.”
“Where do you think you’re going?” Luca’s voice stopped her in her tracks.
She turned around, looking up at him hesitantly. “I’m fired, aren't I? Or at least... my position here is complicated.”
Luca walked toward her slowly, his long strides eating up the distance between them until he stood right in front of her. The cold, ruthless mafia boss had vanished; in his eyes burned a deep, simmering intensity that made the air between them crackle with electricity.
“You saved my mother,” Luca said softly, his voice dropping an octave as he reached out, gently taking her small hand in his large, warm palm. “You protected my family when I was too blind to see the truth. You don't work as a maid here anymore, Naomi.”
Naomi’s heart skipped a beat. “Then... what am I?”
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Luca smiled—a rare, breathtaking smile that transformed his harsh features into something dangerously captivating.
“Stay,” he whispered, stepping closer until she could feel the heat of his chest against hers. “Stay as my equal. Stay as the queen of this house.”
