Chapter Three
1114 Words
The rain hit the windshield like it had something personal against it.
“Slow down,” Nico said. “We’re not being chased.”
Luca didn’t take his eyes off the road. “That’s usually when they get you.”
Nico scoffed from the passenger seat, pulling his jacket tighter. “You’ve been saying that since Naples.”
“And we’re still alive,” Luca replied. “You’re welcome.”
The wipers dragged back and forth, squeaking like they were tired of working overtime. The city lights blurred, stretching into long streaks of yellow and red. Luca turned the wheel smoothly, easing the car into a side street where the pavement narrowed, and the buildings leaned in, as if they were listening.
Nico glanced out the window. “You sure this is the way?”
“Yes, it is. We stay hidden here.” Luca said. “It is better than the main road.”
Nico sighed. “You always do this. We could’ve parked right in front of the hotel.”
“And announce ourselves?” Luca finally looked at him. “At a Valerio event?”
Nico shrugged. “We were invited.”
“That makes it worse.”
They drove in silence for a moment. The engine hummed low, steady.
Nico broke it. “So, did you see her?”
Luca didn’t answer right away.
“I know you did,” Nico continued. “You become quiet like that when you’re unsure if you should tell the truth.”
Luca exhaled through his nose. “Yeah. I saw her.”
“And?”
“And what?”
Nico turned fully towards him. “Come on. Elena Valerio. The golden daughter. The woman half the city would kill for.”
“Okay, that’s dramatic, you ain’t making any sense,” Luca said.
“I'm very serious. ”
Luca slowed near the curb, parked beneath a flickering streetlamp. He killed the engine but didn’t move to get out.
“She wasn’t what I expected,” he said finally.
Nico grinned. “No one ever is.”
“I thought she’d be colder,” Luca continued. “Sharper. Like her father.”
“And she’s not?”
“She's incredibly perceptive,” Luca remarked, a hint of admiration in his voice. “But she's also deliberate. Every move she makes is carefully considered, as if she's surveying the landscape before taking her next step.”
Nico nodded slowly. “That’s dangerous.”
“Yeah,” Luca agreed. “It is.”
They stepped out into the rain. It soaked into Luca’s coat almost immediately, cold and heavy. The hotel loomed behind them, bright and loud, a jewel box full of people pretending they weren’t predators.
Nico lit a cigarette under the awning of a closed shop.
“You sure Moretti wants this?” Nico asked. “Sending us just to look?”
“Moretti doesn’t just glance,” Luca remarked, his tone thoughtful. “He takes his time to measure every detail.”
“And what are we measuring?”
Luca glanced back toward the hotel entrance, where guests were beginning to spill out, laughing, sheltered by umbrellas.
“Elena Valerio,” he said. “And how much weight she actually carries.”
Nico took a drag. “But she’s not the boss.”
“No,” Luca said. “But she’s not decoration either.”
They walked.
The service entrance was quieter. Staff moved in and out, heads down. Luca blended easily, wrong clothes, right confidence. He stopped near the door, pretending to check his phone.
That’s when he felt it.
That shift. The air is tightening.
He looked up.
She stood at the end of the corridor inside, light spilling around her like the place was built for her to stand there. Dark hair pulled back, posture relaxed but ready. She wasn’t smiling.
She was watching him.
For a brief second, the world narrowed to the space between them.
Nico murmured, “She’s looking at you.”
“I know.”
“She doesn’t look scared.”
Luca’s mouth curved slightly. “That’s what worries me.”
The security guard approached then, breaking the moment.
“Sir,” the guard said politely, “this area’s restricted.”
Luca turned easily, flashing a quick smile. “Of course. Just stepped out for air.”
The guard nodded, satisfied, already turning away.
When Luca looked back, she was still there, watching.
Then she turned and walked away.
Nico let out a low whistle. “That’s it? That’s the legendary Valerio stare?”
Luca said nothing.
They walked back to the car. Rain soaked through Luca’s shoes now, cold creeping up his legs.
Inside the car, Nico shut the door hard. “So what now?”
“Now,” Luca said, starting the engine, “we will tell Moretti that she’s not a weak, helpless ‘Daddy, save me’ princess.”
Nico raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”
“For tonight.”
Nico leaned back. “You’re thinking too much.”
Luca pulled into traffic. “I’m thinking just enough,” he mused, eyes scanning the road ahead.
Another stretch of silence.
Then Nico asked, more carefully, “You sure you didn’t feel anything?”
Luca’s jaw tightened. “This isn’t a movie.”
Nico smirked. “You didn’t answer the question.”
Luca stared straight ahead. “I don’t do feelings, and she’s part of the problem.”
“Sometimes,” Nico said lightly, “the problem is the point.”
Luca shot him a look. “Careful,” he said coldly
“I am careful,” Nico said. “That’s why I’m alive.”
They stopped at a red light. The rain is already reducing, mist hanging low over the street.
Luca’s phone buzzed.
Moretti.
He didn’t answer immediately.
“You gonna pick up?” Nico asked.
“In a second.”
Luca looked out the windshield, mind replaying that moment when their eyes locked in the hall when she saw him. Her eyes were steady and unflinching. She seemed fearless.
She hadn’t looked at him like a stranger. It felt as if they had known each other before now.
The light turned green.
Luca answered the call.
“She’s not careless,” he said into the phone. “And she’s not just the boss’s daughter.”
A pause.
“Yes,” Luca continued. “I’m sure.”
Another pause.
“No,” Luca said quietly. “She noticed.”
He ended the call and dropped the phone onto the seat.
Nico watched him. “That bad?”
“That's interesting,” Luca replied.
They drove on, the city swallowing them whole.
- Writer
