Claimed By The Ruthless King

The cathedral smelled of white lilies and candle wax, and Sofia Moretti had never hated a scent more in her life. She stood behind the heavy oak doors, her hands trembling inside the folds of her wedding gown. Not from fear. Not yet. But from the suffocating weight of what she was about to do. In four minutes, those doors would open. In five, she would walk down the aisle toward Marco Rossi—the man her father had chosen for her. The man she had known for eleven months. The man she had loved for none of them. “You look beautiful.” Her mother’s voice was soft as she adjusted Sofia’s veil, though her fingers trembled slightly. “Marco is a good man, Sofia. He’ll take care of you.” Sofia said nothing. There was nothing left to say. Every argument had already been had. Every plea had been ignored. Her father’s businesses were bleeding money. The Rossi family had capital, connections, and a son who needed a wife with the right last name. It wasn’t a marriage. It was a merger with a ring attached. The organ began to play. Sofia closed her eyes for one brief second. Then she straightened her spine. Chin up. Shoulders back. Never let them see you break. The doors opened. The church was full. Hundreds of guests filled the pews in their finest clothes, waiting to witness the union of two powerful families. Her eyes found Marco at the altar. He was handsome in his black tuxedo, offering her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Strangely, Sofia thought he looked just as trapped as she felt. She had taken only a few steps down the aisle when the first gunshot rang out. For half a second, nobody moved. The sound was so violently out of place among the flowers and music that Sofia’s mind refused to understand what she had heard. Then someone screamed. Chaos exploded. Guests dropped beneath the pews. A woman shrieked. Someone knocked over an arrangement of white roses, sending petals across the marble floor. Sofia froze. Then another shot cracked through the cathedral. Marco collapsed. “Marco!” Her voice tore from her throat. She ran. Her wedding gown tangled around her legs as she rushed toward him, dropping to her knees beside him on the cold marble. Blood spread across his white shirt. “No. No, no…” Sofia lifted his head into her lap. Marco’s eyes found hers. Wide. Confused. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something. But no words came. His body went still. Sofia stopped breathing. Her almost-husband was dead. She was kneeling in his blood, wearing a wedding dress that had cost more than most people earned in years, and nothing made sense anymore. The gunfire had stopped. The silence that followed was worse. Then Sofia heard footsteps. Slow. Unhurried. She looked up. A man was walking down the center aisle. He moved as though the chaos belonged to someone else. As though screaming guests and a dead groom were nothing more than inconvenient background noise. Tall. Dark-haired. Dressed entirely in black. Two armed men followed behind him. Sofia had never seen him before. Yet the moment she looked into his face, something inside her recognized the danger. He stopped a few feet away. His gaze dropped to Marco’s body. There was no horror in his expression. No regret. “Who are you?” His dark eyes lifted to hers. “Luca De Luca.” The name hit her harder than the gunshots. Everyone in the city knew that name. The De Lucas didn’t simply run businesses. They ruled the criminal world beneath the city. Every rumor Sofia had ever heard about them involved blood. “You did this.” It wasn’t a question. Luca glanced at Marco’s body. “I did that.” Her stomach twisted. “Not personally. But yes.” “Why?” He rose slowly. “Because your father owes my family a debt he can’t repay with money.” Sofia stared at him. Luca extended his hand. “And I’ve decided to collect a different currency.” Her breath caught. “What are you talking about?” Guests were beginning to flee. Police officers were finally entering the cathedral, shouting questions beneath the panic. Luca didn’t look in their direction. “Your father has spent the last decade taking money from my family. He used it to build his businesses and fund this wedding.” His eyes lowered briefly to her gown. “Even that dress was paid for with my money.” “That’s not true.” But the words came out weak. She remembered her father’s late-night phone calls. His sudden anger. The urgency with which he had pushed the wedding forward. Luca watched realization creep across her face. “It is true.” Sofia swallowed. “And your father knew the debt was coming due.” “No.” “He did.” Her voice shook. “Then why didn’t he tell me?” “Because he had a plan.” “What plan?” “To marry you into the Rossi family and put himself beyond my reach.” Sofia looked down at Marco. At the blood. “So you killed him.” Luca didn’t deny it. “You killed Marco to stop the wedding.” “I killed Marco,” he corrected calmly, “to make room for a different one.” For a moment, Sofia couldn’t understand. Then she did. Her entire body went cold. “You’re insane.” “I’m patient.” Sirens screamed outside. Red and blue lights flashed through the stained-glass windows. Luca crouched closer. “Here’s what happens now, Sofia.” Her heart slammed against her ribs. “You’re going to stand up. You’re going to walk out of this church with me.” She stared at him. “And then?” “In two days, you’re going to marry me.” The world seemed to tilt. “I would rather die.” Something flickered in his eyes. Interest. “That option was never on the table.” Sofia’s fingers curled into the bloodstained fabric of her dress. “You’re going to force me?” “Your father did that the moment he decided stealing from me was easier than paying me back.” Sofia looked toward the doors. The police were getting closer. Someone was calling her name. Her mother. Her father. Her family. She couldn’t see any of them through the chaos. She looked back at Marco. At the man who had been alive only minutes ago. At the wedding that was supposed to bind her to one family. And at the man who had destroyed it. Luca extended his hand again. Sofia stared at it. Every instinct inside her screamed to run. But somewhere deep inside, she knew there was nowhere to run. Slowly, her trembling fingers reached for his hand. The moment Luca’s fingers closed around hers, she felt the final piece of her old life disappear. His grip wasn’t gentle. But it wasn’t cruel either. It was something far worse. Certain. Absolute. He pulled her to her feet. Sofia stood before him in a bloodstained wedding dress. Luca looked down at her. Something settled behind his dark eyes. Not triumph. Ownership. “Welcome to the family, Sofia.” He led her toward the side door. Toward the darkness waiting outside. Before Sofia could step inside the black car, her phone vibrated inside her wedding gown. A message. From her father. Her fingers shook as she opened it. Sofia, run. She stopped breathing. A second message appeared. Luca doesn’t want you because of the debt. Her eyes slowly lifted toward the man beside her. The final message appeared. He wants you because of what your mother did to him. Sofia stared at the screen. Then Luca smiled. And suddenly, she understood something terrifying. Her father had lied to her about everything. Her mother had known Luca De Luca before. And whatever had happened between them had been waiting for Sofia all along.