Chapter 2 Deals in the Dark

Luca Monticelli didn't need to explain himself. He didn't need to speak in grand gestures or make threats. His presence alone suffocated the room with an oppressive tension.

Isolde felt every second of it.

She stood frozen by the small table where Nico was asleep, his tiny chest rising and falling in gentle rhythm. It had taken her a moment to realize that Luca had not moved, had not even acknowledged the quiet infant in her arms. His gaze remained fixed on her, sharp and calculating. It was a look that pried, dug beneath layers of flesh and bone, until it found whatever secrets a person was hiding.

And Isolde had too many secrets. Secrets she had been running from for days, weeks, months-secrets she couldn't allow anyone to uncover.

Still, she didn't lower her gaze. "What do you want from me?" Her voice trembled slightly, but she forced herself to stand tall. She wouldn't let him see her break. Not like this.

He didn't answer immediately, his eyes moving from her to the sleeping child and back again. His fingers brushed the edge of the wooden table as if considering something, a thought lingering behind those cold eyes.

"Tell me, Isolde," he said, his voice low, smooth, and unnervingly calm. "What's your story? How does a woman like you end up bleeding out in the streets with nothing but a dead baby in her arms?"

The words stung. There was no kindness in them, no empathy. Just curiosity laced with a dangerous edge. And yet, there was something about the way he said it-something about the way his lips curled ever so slightly, just enough to make her want to believe he wasn't entirely heartless.

But she couldn't afford to trust him. Not yet. She knew too well that people like Luca Monticelli didn't do things out of kindness.

"I was never supposed to be here," she said quietly, her eyes drifting down to Nico, the only thing in the world that still made her feel human. "I was... used."

Luca said nothing. He just watched her, waiting. And for a moment, Isolde felt the weight of her confession-bare and unguarded-fall into the air between them. It was dangerous to speak, to show weakness. But in the presence of a man like him, silence felt even more dangerous.

"Used?" he repeated, his eyebrow arching slightly as if the word tasted foreign on his tongue.

Isolde took a deep breath and moved toward the chair across from him. "I was part of an arrangement. A marriage... a deal. My family sold me to someone. A man I didn't know. My father... my brother... they thought I was just another pawn to move on their board. They didn't care about me, about what happened to me." Her voice faltered but she kept going. "They didn't even care when I lost the baby."

Luca leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers together as if this was all some sick game to him. "And you're running from them now?"

"Yes."

He didn't say anything for a long moment. Isolde couldn't read his expression. She wasn't even sure if he was judging her or simply calculating his next move. It was unsettling.

"And what do you think you'll find here?" Luca asked finally, his voice still smooth but laced with something darker. "Do you think Magda can protect you from the people who sent those men after you? From your family?"

Isolde flinched at the mention of her family. The people who were supposed to love her, yet had driven her into the arms of a stranger. She had trusted them. Or had she? She didn't even know anymore.

"Magda's the only one who cared enough to take me in. She didn't ask questions. She didn't care who I was." Isolde stood up, her fists clenched. "I won't let you destroy that. I've already lost everything. I won't let you take this from me too."

Luca's gaze hardened, his jaw tightening as he watched her stand her ground. "I'm not interested in your charity," he said coldly. "I want something from you. You think you're the first woman to run from a life she doesn't want? That's not my problem. But you and I... we could help each other. If you're smart enough to realize it."

Her heart thudded in her chest. "Help each other?" she repeated incredulously. "What could you possibly want from me?"

Luca's lips twisted into something between a smirk and a sneer. "You have something I need. Or more precisely, someone." He nodded toward Nico, still sleeping soundly in her arms. "That boy... you think he's an orphan, don't you?"

Isolde stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that boy is a tool. A weapon. The child of a powerful man you've never met, but whose enemies I deal with on a regular basis. If he grows up in a world where people know he's still breathing... it'll bring nothing but chaos. And I'm not letting that happen."

Isolde's blood ran cold. Her eyes widened as she looked at the boy in her arms. He was just a child. A helpless, innocent soul who had already lost everything. How could Luca be so heartless?

"You want to use him," she whispered, the realization cutting through her. "You want to control him."

"Control?" Luca chuckled darkly. "No. Not control. I want to ensure his survival." He paused, his gaze turning sharp. "But for that, I need to make sure the people who want him dead... don't get to him first."

A sickening knot twisted in her stomach. "And what do you want from me in exchange?"

His eyes gleamed. "You're a pawn in your family's game. I'm offering you a way out. Help me keep the boy alive. Protect him, and I'll protect you. And you won't have to look over your shoulder every second of the day."

It was tempting. She would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about what it would mean to live without fear for the first time in ages.

But something in her gut twisted. Luca Monticelli wasn't offering protection. He was making a deal-an agreement that would tie her to him forever.

"I don't trust you," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

He shrugged, unfazed by her words. "You don't have to. Trust isn't a luxury I offer." He stood up, his eyes never leaving hers. "But you will work with me. Or you will lose everything again."

For a long moment, Isolde didn't speak. She only stared at the man who had barged into her life, and she felt the world shift under her feet. She knew, deep in her bones, that whatever path she chose now would change the course of her life forever.