CONTINUATION. ..
1144 Words
Dan stepped forward and handed him the device.
“His name is Matteo Ricci Sheln’
The name settled into Luca’s chest like something claimed.
Matteo.
He repeated it silently.
Matteo.
It fit him.
Luca finally turned and took the iPad.
The screen lit up with a photograph.
Matteo stepping out of his apartment building that morning. Black shirt. Tailored trousers. Sunglasses resting lightly against his collar. His expression calm but Luca knew better.
He zoomed in slightly.
God.
Even in still image, he looked alive.
“That was taken thirty minutes ago,” Dan continued. “He lives alone. Downtown district. Owns the apartment.”
Luca swiped to the next photo.
Matteo laughing with a woman outside an office building.
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“Who is she?”
“Colleague. Sophia Bennett. Marketing department.”
Luca’s expression didn’t change but the air in the room shifted slightly.
He swiped again.
More images.
Matteo at a café.
Matteo driving.
Matteo in profile, sunlight catching against his skin.
Desire flickered openly across Luca’s face now. Slow. Controlled. Dangerous.
“Background,” Luca said quietly.
Dan nodded. “Matteo Ricci is the heir and only son of Lorenzo Ricci.”
Luca paused mid-swipe.
Ricci.
Recognition flickered.
“SheIn Holdings,” Dan clarified.
One of the largest luxury fashion and textile conglomerates in Europe.
Old money.
Powerful.
Respected.
Luca leaned back slightly in his chair.
“He’s the heir?”
“Yes, sir. Only child.”
Another photo appeared Matteo at what looked like a business gala beside an older man.
His father.
Luca studied the image carefully.
But Matteo’s posture was distant. Detached.
“He left,” Dan continued. “Three years ago. Refused to take over the family business.”
Luca’s eyebrow lifted faintly.
“Why?”
“Public statement said he wanted to build something of his own. He founded his own design and branding firm. It’s doing well. Quietly successful.”
A slow smile curved onto Luca’s lips.
Independent.
Proud.
That explains the way he walked out.
He doesn’t belong to anyone.
Luca zoomed in again on Matteo’s face.
The soft curve of his mouth.
Those lips.
His mind flashed back to the hotel room.
The way Matteo’s breath had hitched.
The way his body had aligned so perfectly with his own rhythm.
He could almost feel him again.
“I want him,” Luca murmured not to Dan.
To himself.
Dan continued carefully. “He had a long-term relationship that ended recently.”
Luca’s eyes darkened.. They were together for five years.”
Five years.
Luca’s fingers tightened slightly around the iPad.
Five years and someone still made him look heartbroken in a bar?
“Financial status?” Luca asked.
“Comfortable. But nothing compared to his father’s empire. He refused financial dependence after leaving.”
Luca’s smile deepened.
He walked away from wealth.
From power.
To prove himself.
That kind of pride was rare.
And intoxicating.
Dan hesitated before adding, “He has no known criminal associations. Clean record. Predictable schedule. Office. Home. Gym twice a week.”
Predictable.
Luca’s gaze softened but in a dangerous way.
“You’ve assigned surveillance?”
“Yes, sir. Discreet.”
“Good.”
Luca stood, walking slowly toward the window again, iPad still in hand. He stared at Matteo’s image like it was something alive.
He doesn’t know.
He doesn’t know I’m already in his world.
A quiet knock interrupted the silence.
Dan’s phone buzzed in his pocket.
Dan checked the screen.
His posture shifted instantly.
“Sir…”
Luca didn’t look away from the window.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Zeus is on the line.”
The name changed everything.
The softness in Luca’s gaze vanished.
In its place steel.
The air thickened.
Zeus.
His godfather.
Head of the organization.
The man who built the empire Luca now helped rule.
Dan handed him the phone.
Luca took it.
His expression transformed completely before he even spoke.
Controlled. Cold. Ruthless.
“Sir,” Luca answered smoothly.
A deep voice echoed from the other end. Calm. Commanding.
“You’ve been distracted.”
Not a question.
A statement.
Luca’s jaw tightened slightly.
“I handle my responsibilities.”
“You always have,” Zeus replied. “But my sources say you’ve redirected resources this morning.”
Silence stretched.
Zeus continued, “You know I don’t tolerate personal indulgences interfering with business.”
Luca’s eyes flicked briefly to the iPad screen still lit with Matteo’s image.
Personal indulgence?
No.
This is something else.
“It’s under control,” Luca said evenly.
A pause.
Then..
“There’s movement in the east sector. The Moretti family is testing our borders.”
Luca’s posture straightened fully now.
War.
“The shipment tonight must not fail,” Zeus continued. “You will oversee it personally.”
Luca didn’t hesitate.
“Of course.”
“And Luca?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Remember who you are.”
The line went dead.
The room was silent again.
But the atmosphere had changed.
Dan stood still, waiting.
Luca lowered the phone slowly.
The softness was gone entirely now.
In its place calculated danger.
“The Morettis,” Luca said quietly. “They’re getting bold.”
“Yes, sir.”
Luca walked back to his desk, placing the phone down carefully.
His eyes drifted once more to Matteo’s picture.
Two worlds.
One built on blood and loyalty.
The other built on ambition and clean hands.
Matteo doesn’t belong in my world.
The thought lingered.
Then another followed.
But I belong in his.
Luca turned the iPad off.
“Maintain surveillance,” he ordered. “But do not approach him.”
Dan nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
“And Dan?”
“Yes?”
“If anything anything threatens him, I want to know before it happens.”
Dan hesitated only a fraction of a second.
“Understood.
He walked back to the window, staring down at the city.
Tonight, he would oversee a shipment that could ignite a war.
Tonight, he would remind enemies why his name carried weight.
But in the middle of it all
His mind returned to soft lips.
To stubborn pride.
To a man who walked away without knowing he had just stepped into something far bigger than a one-night mistake.
Luca exhaled slowly.
“I’ll see you again, Matteo.”
His phone buzzed again.
A message from Dan.
Subject has arrived at office. Black car maintained distance. No suspicion confirmed.
Luca’s lips curved slightly.
Good.
Across the city, Matteo stepped out of his car, unaware that two rival mafia families were preparing for a possible confrontation that night
And that somehow, unknowingly
He was now connected to the most dangerous man in it.
As Luca slipped his gun into the inside of his jacket and adjusted his cuffs, his expression was calm.
Controlled.
Deadly.
Dan..
Sir?
Get the boys ready!!!
- Writer
