Chapter 3 - The Golden Cage
The morning sun broke through the heavy clouds, casting brilliant beams of light through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the estate's grand dining room.
Lila sat at the head of the massive mahogany table, her legs dangling several inches above the marble floor. In front of her was a plate filled with chocolate chip pancakes, sliced strawberries, and whipped cream, prepared by my personal chef.
"This house is huge," Lila declared between bites, her mouth full of pancake. "Is it a castle?"
"It's a house," I said, sitting at the side of the table, sipping black coffee. I had traded my tailored suit jacket for a simple black cashmere sweater, trying to look less like a warlord and more like a human being. "But you can call it a castle if you like."
"Are you a king?" she asked, leaning forward, her dark eyes sparkling with uninhibited curiosity.
"No," I replied with a faint smirk. "Just a man who owns a lot of stone."
Sarah walked into the dining room, looking exhausted. She had refused to sleep in the master suite I offered her, choosing instead to sleep on the sofa in Lila's guest bedroom. She was dressed in clean clothes my staff had procured for her overnight—a simple cream sweater and jeans.
"Lila, don't talk with your mouth full," Sarah corrected gently, taking a seat across from me. She looked at the feast spread across the table, then at me. "You don't have to bribe her, Luca."
"I'm not bribing her. I'm feeding her," I said smoothly. "Something she hasn't been properly accustomed to while living on a waitress's wages."
Sarah’s eyes flashed with anger. "We survived. We were fine."
"You were hiding," I countered. "That isn't living."
Before Sarah could respond, my butler, Arthur, walked silently into the room and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Mr. Moretti, Mr. Vance is in your study downstairs. He says he heard you returned unexpectedly from your business trip and brought... guests."
My body went cold. The air in the dining room dropped ten degrees in an instant.
I carefully set my coffee cup back on its saucer, making sure not to make a sound.
"Keep them here," I said to Sarah, standing up. "Do not leave this room."
"Luca..." Sarah panicked, standing up as well. "Is it him?"
"Eat your breakfast, Lila," I said to my daughter, giving her a small, reassuring smile that felt foreign on my face. "I'll be right back."
"Okay, Secrets Man," Lila said cheerfully, waving a sticky, syrup-covered fork.
I walked out of the dining room and descended the grand staircase to my private study. Double mahogany doors opened to reveal Nikolai Vance standing near my desk, holding a glass of twenty-year-old scotch.
Nikolai was forty-five, handsome, immaculately dressed in a three-piece charcoal suit, with slicked-back silver hair and the charming smile of a sociopath.
"Luca!" Nikolai spread his arms in greeting. "Welcome back, brother! Marco told me you cleared the tarmac at JFK last night. I was worried there was a security breach."
I closed the heavy doors behind me and walked toward my desk, keeping my face a mask of total indifference.
"No breach," I said, my voice smooth as silk. "Just an unexpected recovery of stolen property."
Nikolai’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second before recovering. "Stolen property? Did one of the unions try to skim from the harbor project again?"
"No," I said, walking behind my desk and sitting down in my leather armchair. I didn't offer him a seat. "Six years ago, someone sent a forged threat to Sarah. They scared her into running away from New York, taking my unborn child with her."
Nikolai’s eyes tightened slightly. The color in his cheeks subtly shifted. "Sarah? You mean... your old girlfriend? You found her?"
"She found me," I said, leaning back and lacing my fingers together. "On a flight from Chicago. Sitting right next to my six-year-old daughter."
Nikolai took a slow sip of his scotch. "Well... that's a miracle, Luca. A absolute miracle. Have you figure out who sent the threat?"
"I have," I said, staring directly into his eyes. "It was signed with a snake wrapped around a dagger."
Nikolai didn't flinch. He was too seasoned a player for that. Instead, he let out a low, sympathetic sigh. "The Vance family crest. Luca, you can't possibly think—"
"I don't think, Nikolai. I know," I interrupted, my tone utterly devoid of warmth. "You used my hatred for the old families against me. You drove away the only woman who kept me human so you could manipulate my greed and build an empire on my muscle."
Nikolai set his glass down on the desk with a sharp clink. The polite, charming facade fell away, revealing the cold, calculating strategist underneath.
"And what if I did?" Nikolai asked quietly, leaning over the desk. "Look at what we built, Luca! Before she left, you were soft! You were talking about retiring! You were going to hand over control of the city to weaker men! I saved your legacy!"
"You stole my daughter's childhood!" I roared, standing up so fast my heavy leather chair crashed into the bookshelf behind me.
Nikolai stepped back, pulling a small silver transmitter from his pocket. "Touch me, Luca, and three snipers stationed outside your perimeter will open fire on the floor above us. Right into the dining room."
May you like
My heart stopped.
"You think I came here without insurance?" Nikolai sneered. "I know how you operate, Luca. The second I heard you brought a woman and a child into this house, I had my men surround the estate. You give me full ownership of the port development authority by noon today, or your precious restored family dies before lunch."
