Chapter 4 Four

Luca

I stirred my coffee slowly, watching the crema swirl like a storm in a cup. The view from the penthouse office looked out over the city ,sleek towers, blinking lights, streets that never slept. From up here, everything felt distant. Manageable. Like I could control it all.

But that was bullshit. Nothing about this life was controllable,not really.

Behind the tinted windows, the city moved like a beast I'd tamed but never trusted. Rival families waited for one misstep, one sign that the Martellis were slipping. They were wrong. I don't slip. I wait. I plan. And when the time comes, I strike.

Still, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the weight pressing on me. Not fear. Just... fatigue. The kind that seeps into your bones when you've been holding a kingdom together with blood and silence for too long.

My father's death changed everything. They made it look like an accident. But I know the difference between an accident and a message. He was gutted like a warning. I was twenty when I buried him. A part of me never left that grave.

My older sister Miuccia didn't cry at the funeral. She held our mother's hand and stared straight ahead, eyes hard like marble. She's four years older than me, and she took control like she was born for it. If our last name had been in a different line of business, maybe she'd have been the Don. Hell, maybe she still could be if it weren't for the old men who still pretend women can't lead. Miuccia never complains about it. She just moves in the shadows, ruthless and loyal, protecting the family without ever needing credit.

She's the only one I trust fully. The only one who knows how much I hate this life and how deep I'm in.

And now, there's Cassie.

I watched the footage from the warehouse again her face, the panic in her eyes, the way she kicked and fought even though she had no chance. She reminded me of someone I used to be. Before the rules and power, before the suit and the title. She's tough, arrogant, and too brave for her own good.

But she has something I need.

That flash drive her father tucked away before he died, it's not just data. It's leverage. Blackmail material. Access to billions stored off-the-books, buried under layers of dead men's codes. Cassie doesn't know it yet, but her father left her with a legacy more dangerous than any bloodline.

She's not a prisoner. Not technically. I told her that when she woke up, half-dazed and full of questions I wouldn't answer.

"You'll stay here for a while," I said calmly. "Think of it as a change of scenery."

Her brow furrowed. "And who the hell are you exactly?"

"Luca Martelli."

She blinked. The name landed, but I could see she didn't quite know why it mattered. Yet.

"You live alone, Cassie," I added quietly. "No roommates. No siblings. Just your mother across town."

She narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that?"

I didn't answer. Just watched her. She hated that. The silence.

I poured her a glass of water and handed it to her. "Make yourself at home. You're not in danger. You're not a hostage. But we're roommates now, and I don't take well to people sneaking off without reason."

Her laugh was bitter. "You call this roommating? Kidnapping me in the middle of the night?"

I didn't flinch. "It's safer here."

She didn't know how right I was.

Before she woke up, I used her phone to send two quick texts,one to her friends, one to her mother. To her friends, I wrote: "I need space right now. Things are overwhelming. I'll still be at class, but I just need time to process things. Please don't worry."

To her mother, I simply said: "I'll call you soon. Love you."

That was enough to buy time. Enough to keep questions from spiraling. She lived alone, kept to herself. No one would sound the alarm.... at least not yet.

And Miuccia was watching. From a distance, but watching. She knew Cassie had no clue what she was caught in the middle of. Miuccia didn't like risks. And Cassie, even unknowingly, was a risk wrapped in innocence and defiance.

Still, I wasn't stupid. This girl would notice things. She'd start asking the wrong questions. But for now, all I needed was time.

Time to get that flash drive.

I needed to make her trust me.

And the longer I thought about it, the more I realized trust alone wouldn't be enough. Not in this world. Not with what was coming.

I set the coffee down, stood, and paced to the window.

Marriage.

The word felt like a loaded weapon in my mouth. But it kept surfacing in every conversation with Miuccia, every coded warning I received.

Cassie's father hadn't just left her a digital breadcrumb trail. He left her unprotected.

Unprotected meant vulnerable.

And vulnerable meant dead.

Unless she was legally tied to someone powerful enough to keep the other preys back.

I left the office and found her on the terrace, staring at the lights like they held answers. She heard me coming but didn't turn around.

"Why do I feel like you're always three steps ahead of me?" she asked quietly.

"Because I am."

She looked over her shoulder, dry-eyed, chin raised. "I'm not marrying you, Luca."

I arched a brow. "I didn't say you were."

"Yet."

Silence stretched between us, taut and humming.

"It's the only way to protect you," I said. "If you stay Cassie Reed, they can drag you through courts, kidnap you, use your name against you. But as Cassie Martelli, you're untouchable."

She turned fully now. "So this is about power."

"No," I said. "It's about survival."

Her jaw clenched. "Convenient."

"Strategic. There's a difference."

She took a step closer. "And what do you get out of it?"

I hesitated. Then told her the truth.

"I get control over the asset your father left behind. And I get to keep you alive long enough to use it."

She flinched. Not from the honesty, but from the fact that I didn't sugarcoat it.

"So I'm an asset now?"

"You always were. You just didn't know it."

She laughed once, bitter. "And the wedding? That part of the pitch come with cake and a fake smile too?"

"No grand gestures.No vows. No kisses. No strings," I said flatly. "Just protection. Legal and absolute. You'll keep going to class. Keep your routine. But as far as the everyone's concerned, you're mine."

She stared at me like she was searching for something human beneath the calculation.

"And if I say no?"

"Then I hope you say goodbye to your mother first. Because they'll come for her next."

Her lips parted, breath stalling.

"Look, you can resent me all you want, Cassie. Just do it with my name on your ID."

I turned and walked away, leaving her with the silence I knew she hated.

She would say yes.

Because in this world, love wasn't the currency.

Protection was.