Chapter 4 — The Men Who Fear Him
1276 Words
The dress fitting took place in a room Sofia hadn’t seen before.
It was bright, filled with mirrors, and almost absurdly cheerful for a wedding nobody had actually wanted.
Sofia stood on a small platform while a needleworker moved around her, adjusting the gown and pinning the fabric near her waist.
The dress was beautiful.
That was the most annoying part.
If she’d been given a choice, she might have chosen something completely different. Something simpler. Something that actually felt like hers.
But looking at her reflection, she couldn’t deny how perfect it was.
The mirrors surrounded her.
One Sofia in front.
Another behind.
Dozens of reflections showing a woman she barely recognized.
“You’re allowed to breathe,” the needleworker said gently.
Sofia blinked.
The woman smiled. “The dress will still fit.”
A humorless laugh escaped Sofia.
“Sorry. Bad week.”
The needleworker didn’t ask any questions.
Sofia wasn’t surprised.
In this house, nobody seemed to ask questions.
After the fitting, Sofia refused to return to her bedroom.
No matter how beautiful the room was, it still felt like a cell.
Instead, she wandered along the first floor.
She told herself she was exploring.
But the truth was different.
She was searching for the edges of her cage.
Testing which doors opened.
Which hall always led to somewhere useful.
Which exits had guards.
She found the kitchen first.
Then, farther down the corridor, she heard voices.
Sofia slowed.
A door stood partially open.
Inside, several men sat around a long table covered with papers and laptops.
The conversation stopped the moment she appeared.
Enzo was among them.
Three other men sat at the table, all strangers to Sofia.
Every one of them looked at her.
Then went silent.
It wasn’t courtesy.
It was caution.
The kind of silence that came when people were trying to decide whether someone was a threat.
Or a problem.
“Sofia,” Enzo said, rising from his chair.
The others stood a second later.
As if Enzo moving had given them permission.
“You shouldn’t be down here.”
Sofia crossed her arms.
“Why not?”
“Business.”
He said it simply.
Apparently, in this house, that explained everything.
She should have walked away.
Instead, curiosity kept her standing in the doorway.
Maybe it was curiosity.
Or maybe she was simply tired of being told where she was and wasn’t allowed to go.
“You all work for him,” she said.
It wasn’t a question.
“We work with him,” one of the younger men corrected.
The moment the words left his mouth, he looked as though he regretted speaking.
Sofia noticed.
“Is there a difference?”
Nobody answered.
The silence lasted just long enough for Sofia to understand.
There was loyalty in this room.
But it wasn’t the warm kind.
It was loyalty built on fear.
Dressed up as respect because respect sounded better.
Enzo walked toward her.
He placed a hand lightly against her elbow and guided her back into the hallway.
It wasn’t rough.
But it wasn’t optional either.
“He doesn’t like people wandering into meetings,” Enzo said once they were out of earshot.
“He doesn’t like a lot of things, apparently.”
For a moment, something almost like sympathy appeared on Enzo’s face.
He glanced back toward the room.
Then lowered his voice.
“For what it’s worth, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That’s not the impression I got.”
Enzo hesitated.
Sofia watched his expression carefully.
He seemed to be deciding how much he could tell her.
Finally, he spoke.
“Those men have all lost someone to this life.”
Sofia’s expression changed.
Enzo leaned against the wall.
“A brother. A father. One of them lost his wife.”
He said it without drama.
That somehow made it worse.
“They don’t fear Luca for no reason,” Enzo continued. “They’ve seen what happens to people who cross him.”
Sofia felt a coldness settle in her stomach.
“Most of them decided fear was safer than the alternative.”
She studied him.
“And you?”
Enzo looked at her.
“Do you fear him?”
For a long moment, he didn’t answer.
When he finally did, his voice was low.
“I respect him.”
Sofia raised an eyebrow.
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No,” Enzo said. “But it’s not nothing either.”
His eyes moved toward the meeting room.
When he looked back at her, something had changed in his expression.
A warning.
“But you should be careful.”
Sofia frowned.
“Careful of what?”
“How deeply you let this world pull you in.”
She gave a short, bitter laugh.
“I don’t exactly have a choice. In case you missed the part where I was dragged here.”
“I know.”
His jaw tightened.
“That’s exactly why I’m telling you.”
Sofia watched him carefully.
Enzo lowered his voice even further.
“If there’s ever a real opportunity for you to leave…”
She went still.
“…take it.”
For a second, Sofia wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.
“Don’t think about him,” Enzo continued. “Don’t think about loyalty. You don’t owe anyone in this house anything.”
His expression hardened.
“If you ever get the chance to leave and actually be safe, go.”
Sofia stared at him.
This was Luca’s head of security.
A man Luca trusted.
And he was telling her to run.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Enzo’s eyes moved toward the meeting room.
Then back to her.
“Because someone should have told the last woman this family claimed.”
Sofia stopped breathing.
“What?”
Enzo’s expression changed instantly.
The door at the end of the hallway opened.
Footsteps echoed against the marble floor.
Whatever honesty had been on Enzo’s face disappeared.
His expression became neutral.
Controlled.
“Go rest,” he said loudly.
Sofia stared at him.
“Enzo—”
“Big day tomorrow.”
Then he walked away.
Just like that.
Leaving Sofia alone in the hallway.
But she couldn’t move.
One sentence kept repeating in her mind.
The last woman this family claimed.
Who was she?
What had happened to her?
And why did Enzo look like he regretted telling Sofia?
That night, Sofia couldn’t sleep.
She lay beneath the expensive sheets, staring at the ceiling.
The estate was quiet.
Too quiet.
Every sound seemed louder in the darkness.
The distant footsteps of guards.
The wind against the windows.
The faint creak of old walls settling.
The last woman this family claimed.
Sofia turned onto her side.
She thought about Enzo.
The warning in his voice.
The way he had told her to run.
And then Luca’s words came back to her.
Don’t run from me.
A chill moved through her.
She sat up.
The room was dark except for the moonlight coming through the window.
Slowly, Sofia looked toward the door.
She wasn’t going to run.
Not tonight.
But there was something else she could do.
She could find answers.
And for the first time since arriving at the De Luca estate, Sofia made a decision that was entirely her own.
Tomorrow, she would marry Luca De Luca.
But before that happened, she was going to discover exactly who the last woman was.
And what the De Luca family had done to her.
Because if Enzo was afraid to speak her name…
Sofia had a feeling the truth was far more dangerous than Luca himself.
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