CHAPTER TWO: THOUGHTLESS SLAP
1070 Words
Sophia POV
The entire ballroom went silent after the slap.
Not normal silence.
The kind of silence that made my chest tighten immediately because everybody suddenly looked terrified at the same time.
Even the musicians stopped playing.
I stood there breathing hard while the wine glass slowly slipped from my hand onto the floor. Matteo looked ready to pass out beside me and honestly, the way everybody around us reacted was finally starting to make me realize I may have made a very stupid decision.
Luca De Luca slowly turned his face back toward me.
The red mark from the slap was still visible against his skin, but his expression never changed. That somehow felt worse than shouting. Worse than anger.
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.
One of the politicians standing nearby quietly stepped backward like he wanted to leave before violence started.
I swallowed hard but forced myself not to look away from Luca even though my heartbeat was becoming impossible to ignore.
Then Vincent suddenly stepped forward quickly. “Boss,” he said calmly, almost like a warning. “People are watching.”
So that was Vincent Moretti.
I recognized him immediately too. Luca De Luca’s right hand man. The media called him the ghost behind the De Luca empire because nobody ever knew what he was thinking. He looked calmer than everyone else in the room, but his eyes moved carefully between Luca and me like he was already trying to control the situation before it got worse.
Luca kept staring at me for another few seconds before adjusting the sleeve of his suit slowly like getting slapped in public happened every day.
That somehow annoyed me again.
“You ruined my dress first,” I said before Matteo grabbed my arm so hard I almost lost balance.
“Are you insane?” he whispered harshly under his breath. “Sophia, we need to leave right now.”
Honestly, he was probably right.
The atmosphere inside the ballroom suddenly felt dangerous. Phones were already coming out. People were whispering loudly now. Some looked shocked. Others looked entertained. But most of them looked scared.
Very scared.
And all because I slapped one man.
Matteo started dragging me toward the exit before I could embarrass us even further, but somebody suddenly stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop walking.
An older man. Tall. Sharp eyes. Expensive black suit.
The second his hand touched my arm to steady me, something about his expression changed immediately.
He froze.
His eyes stayed locked on my face for too long.
Especially my eyes.
It felt strange enough to make me uncomfortable instantly.
“I’m sorry,” I said awkwardly while trying to move around him.
But he kept staring.
Like he had seen a ghost.
Then somebody behind us suddenly whispered quietly, “That’s Adrian Rossi’s daughter.”
The older man’s expression darkened immediately.
My stomach tightened.
How did these people know who I was already?
The man finally let go of my arm slowly before looking toward Vincent without taking his eyes off me completely.
“Find out everything about her,” he said quietly.
Vincent nodded once. “Of course, sir.”
Something about the exchange made me uncomfortable immediately.
Matteo pulled me away before I could think too deeply about it. “We’re leaving,” he muttered quickly.
Nobody tried stopping us.
Which somehow felt worse.
As we walked through the ballroom, I could literally feel people staring at me from every direction. Whispers followed us everywhere now.
“That’s her.”
“She slapped him.”
“Adrian Rossi’s daughter?”
“She’s dead.”
That last one made my chest tighten badly.
Outside the Palazzo Bellucci Hotel, rain poured heavily across the streets while Matteo practically shoved me into the taxi waiting outside.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he snapped the second the car pulled away. “Do you know who that was?”
“He spilled wine on me.”
“That’s your defense?”
“He acted like money could fix it.”
Matteo stared at me like I had completely lost my mind. “Sophia, that wasn’t some random rich businessman. That was Luca De Luca.”
“I know who he is.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
I rolled my eyes even though anxiety was slowly creeping into my chest now that the adrenaline was disappearing. “You’re overreacting.”
“Am I?” Matteo laughed once without humor. “You publicly humiliated the most feared man in Sicily and you think I’m overreacting?”
I looked out the window quietly after that.
Deep down, part of me knew he was right.
The entire city had practically frozen after that slap.
That couldn’t be normal.
When we finally reached Rosa’s house almost forty minutes later, the first thing I noticed was the television already playing footage from the gala.
My stomach dropped instantly.
A blurry video of me slapping Luca was replaying across the screen while reporters spoke rapidly in Italian underneath it.
The news spread that fast?
Rosa stood near the television looking completely horrified.
The second she saw me, she rushed forward immediately. “What did you do?”
I blinked. “How do you already know?”
“The entire city knows!” she snapped. “People are already talking about it online.”
Matteo pointed at me dramatically. “I told her not to do it.”
“You absolutely did not.”
Rosa grabbed my face suddenly like she needed to make sure I was real. “Sophia, listen to me carefully. You need to leave Palermo tonight.”
I frowned immediately. “Because of one slap?”
“You don’t understand these people.”
“There’s that sentence again.”
“This isn’t funny!” Rosa shouted. “The De Lucas don’t forgive humiliation. Especially not publicly.”
The fear in her voice finally made my stomach twist properly for the first time that night.
Before I could answer her, bright headlights suddenly flashed through the front windows of the house.
Everybody froze immediately.
Then Matteo slowly moved toward the curtain and looked outside.
His face lost all color instantly.
There were black cars parked outside the house.
At least four of them.
Rosa covered her mouth shakily.
“Oh God,” she whispered. “They found us.”
- Writer
