Chapter 2 Keep the girl quiet

The first thing Luca noticed about her was that she didn't cry.No tears. No trembling. Just steel in her spine and fire in her eyes as she stared at the casket like she could will it open with fury alone.

He shouldn't have gone to the funeral. That was a job for soldiers-stoic, faceless men in black coats who paid respects and kept the rumors quiet. But Luca hadn't sent soldiers.He'd gone himself.And he wasn't entirely sure why.The ride from the cemetery was thick with silence. Adriano lit a cigarette in the passenger seat, even though Luca hated smoke. He cracked the window. Rain drizzled in, mixing with the bitter scent of tobacco and something colder-anticipation.

"She saw through you," Adriano said after a few minutes. "Didn't even blink."

"She didn't have to," Luca replied. "She already knew."

Adriano glanced back. "You think she knows the details?"

"No. Not yet. But she's digging."

He could feel it. The way she looked at him,like she had her fingers on the edge of something rotten, and she was just waiting for it to fall apart.Matteo should have kept his sister out of this.

But Matteo hadn't done a damn thing right in the end.By the time they reached the compound, Luca's mind had moved past the funeral. His phone buzzed. A message from Nico in cybersecurity:

Encrypted folder from Matteo's burner decrypted. Forwarding. Not good.

He didn't open it. Not yet. Instead, he stepped out of the SUV and into the storm-washed courtyard, nodding to the guards before heading inside. His shoes echoed against the marble floors. Warmth from the fireplaces couldn't shake the chill in his spine.His father was waiting.Of course he was.Don Valentini sat in his usual place behind the desk carved from solid Sicilian walnut, looking like the ghost of war itself. The fire behind him threw shadows across the map of old scars on his knuckles.

"You were seen," he said without preamble.

"She would've noticed anyway," Luca replied. "She's already suspicious."

"Then you should've had her removed."

"She's not just some girl."

The don's gaze sharpened. "She's exactly that. A civilian with too many questions and a family name we buried the moment her brother crossed us."

"Matteo made mistakes," Luca said quietly. "She didn't."

"Does it matter?"

Luca didn't answer.Because he didn't know anymore.

The don rose, pacing toward the fire. "The Moretti girl is a loose thread. You know what we do with loose threads."

"I know."

"Then handle it."

Luca's jaw tightened. "Let me watch her for a few days. She's smart, but she's still playing catch-up. If she finds something dangerous, I'll know. And if she doesn't-"

"If she doesn't, she still breathes. Which is not what I asked for."

There was a long pause.

Then: "You're getting soft."

"No." Luca's voice dropped. "I'm getting smart."

His father stared at him for a long moment before returning to his desk.

"You have forty-eight hours," he said finally. "Not a second more. Then she disappears."

The words hit like a gavel.Luca nodded, turned, and walked out.But inside, his mind was already spinning.Not just with strategy.With memory.

Two Months Ago

He remembered Matteo standing in this very room, hands shaking as he laid a flash drive on the desk.

"You have to protect her," Matteo had said, voice strained. "If anything happens to me, Luca, swear to me-"

"I'm not your fucking bodyguard."

"You're the only one she'll listen to."

That had been the last conversation they ever had.Now Matteo was in a box, and his sister was poking the bear with a lit match.And Luca?Luca was the only one standing between her and the wolves.Even if he was one of them.That night, Luca opened the decrypted file.It was worse than he expected.

Matteo had been documenting everything. Names. Shipment details. Payments. Off-book hits. He had enough evidence to burn half the family to the ground,including Luca himself.He hadn't sent it to the police. Not yet.But there were signs he was preparing to.

And the last file...

A video.

Luca clicked play.

The screen lit with grainy footage,Matteo pacing in a cheap motel room, talking to someone off-camera.

"She'll keep digging if I die. You know that, right?" he said.

A pause. Then: "Don't let them touch her."

Then static.

Then black.

Luca leaned back in his chair, knuckles tight.

"She'll keep digging."

He'd seen it already. Sera had fire. She had teeth. She didn't run from monsters,she stared them down.He could see the storm coming in her eyes.She wouldn't stop.Which meant he had a decision to make.He could follow the orders. End the threat.She'd disappear. Problem solved.

Or-

He could do what Matteo had asked.

Protect her.

Even if that meant protecting her from him.

A knock on the door.

Adriano.

"She's on the move," he said. "Tracked her phone. She's going back to Matteo's apartment. Probably to search it."

"Alone?"

"Looks like it."

Luca rose slowly, already pulling on his coat.

"Then we'll search it with her."

Adriano raised a brow. "You sure that's smart?"

"No," Luca said as he walked out.

"But it's inevitable."

End of Chapter Two