Bound to the mafia heir

CHAPTER 3 — A Night That Should’ve Been Normal

Sera didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until the elevator doors sealed her and Luca inside. The hallway outside still echoed with the heavy, coordinated footsteps of people who moved with training and intention. This was not a world she belonged in.

Luca stood in front of her, one hand braced against the elevator wall, eyes lifted as if he could track the floors by instinct alone. He didn’t look panicked, but the sharp tension in his jaw told her this was no longer a controlled situation. This was danger when the elevator opened, a young man peeled away from a nearby desk maybe nineteen, dark hair falling over his suspicious eyes.Nico,Luca said we’ve secured the floor,Nico reported. Matteo is in his office,and Adrian? still circling sir , Nico said, but he’ll make a move soon.

Sera stiffened at the name, and Luca caught it.You’ll meet Matteo,Luca said as they walked my uncle. When he asks questions, answer only what I signal.Signal? She had no idea what that meant, and the look on his face didn’t reassure her.He pushed open a door, and Sera met Matteo Arden. If Luca carried quiet danger, Matteo carried something older authority carved into bone. Silver at the temples, unreadable eyes, a presence that pressed on the room without ever rising from his chair.

Luca,Matteo said, voice smooth and heavy you brought… a guest Sera felt a prickle up her spine Matteo didn’t look angry he was curious and men like him did not waste curiosity on things that favored you.This is Sera, Luca said steadily she’s under my protection.Matteo studied her, slow and dissecting and why,he murmured, would she need your protection?

Luca didn’t answer immediately a subtle pressure shifted through the room his authority, quiet but firm,because Adrian Vale is hunting her, Luca said.Matteo finally leaned back, interest sparking like a struck match explain.She decoded one of Adrian’s encrypted alerts by accident.Matteo’s eyes returned to her a civilian cracked a syndicate cipher… accidentally?

I didn’t mean to,Sera said I just noticed patterns and numbers repeating some symbols out of place anyone would’ve seen it. No,Matteo said they wouldn’t.Silence thickened until another voice cut through it Elena stepped in tablet tucked under her arm, expression carved from irritation and caffeine.You’re the girl from the café,she said, looking Sera over the decoder.I’m not..you are,Elena interrupted, scanning her tablet your work is clean too clean and inconvenient.

Is… that a compliment?Sera asked,no It’s a problem Luca exhaled Elena..you brought an untrained outsider into a breach,she said I’m allowed to evaluate the disaster.Sera realized something then they weren’t questioning her morality. They were weighing her value, her threat.Matteo folded his hands Sera tell me exactly what you saw in Adrian’s message.Luca gave the slightest shake of his head not that.

I understood the patterns,she said instead. But I didn’t decode the whole thing Elena raised an eyebrow lying already? She’s not lying,Luca said and you know this how?Matteo asked because if she had decoded all of it,Luca replied, Adrian wouldn’t be circling us he’d already be here.As if summoned, the lights flickered Elena’s head snapped up. Nico reached for a concealed blade Matteo stood for the first time.

Alarms exploded through the floor move, Luca ordered, grabbing Sera’s hand as the wall behind them blew inward a shockwave that punched the room apart. Dust rained from the ceiling Sera staggered, ears ringing.They burst into the hallway. Elena bolted to a wall panel, typing furiously not a frontal breach side access,someone fed them the layout.How many?Matteo demanded at least seven armed,moving fast.Seven armed men attacking a syndicate floor was not an attack it was a message.

A masked figure materialized through the smoke, weapon raised.Luca reacted instantly, shoving Sera behind him. Nico slammed into the attacker, knocking him out with silent precision.H-how old is he?Sera whispered.Old enough to keep you alive,Luca said. Stay close to me ok.They’re forcing us inward, Elena said. Toward the west wing.That’s where my father keeps off-record files,Luca said.This isn’t a coincidence ,Matteo muttered.What did the numbers look like? Luca asked.What?in Adrian’s code the structure.Groups of seven she said but the spacing was wrong the third cluster repeated a sym..an internal route,Elena finished.He was mapping a floor Matteo stiffened which floor?this one,Sera whispered.

They’re headed for the vault,Elena said, get her out,Matteo ordered.Luca pulled Sera into a smoke-filled corridor. His stride was relentless precise, controlled. But then she noticed his free hand was trembling.You’re hurt,It’s nothing she grabbed his wrist before thinking Luca stop you’re bleeding.He froze, looking at her like the world had paused what I need,he said quietly, is for you to keep moving.Nico reappeared two incoming east corridor.

We cut through the archive,Luca said.They ducked into a narrow passage he swiped a card,the door opened into an enormous, soundproof archive lined with floor-to-ceiling files.But before Sera could process the sheer weight of secrets in the room, a hidden panel slid open.A stranger stepped out Not Adrian or Matteo.Someone else Luca went still. Sera, he said quietly get behind me.

The stranger raised his palms Luca you weren’t supposed to bring her here why are you in my uncle’s archive?Luca demanded.I’m here,the stranger said softly, for the girl Sera backed into the shelves.You already know who I am,”the man continued. And your uncle knows I’m here.No one enters this room without Matteo’s approval.That’s where you’re wrong. Matteo knows exactly why I’m here.What do you want with her?She doesn’t need to finish a code for the right people to recognize talent.Which people?Sera asked.The Council,he said simply they sent me.

Even Sera knew the name. The Council of three ghosts of syndicate power, higher than anyone Luca answered to.You’d deny the Council? the man asked Luca.My loyalty doesn’t erase my boundaries.This isn’t about boundaries It’s about survival. If the girl stays with you, Adrian won’t be your only enemy and if she goes with you?Luca asked she lives and if she stays?The stranger’s eyes softened she dies. Luca snapped, he lunged, pinning the man to the wall.You can kill me,the stranger rasped, but the Council will still come.

Before Sera could process any of it, a deafening boom shook the archive.Elena’s voice screamed over the intercom. Luca we’ve been breached! east corridor is gone. Adrian’s men are coming straight for you.The stranger shoved Luca away and vanished back into the wall panel the lights went out.Footsteps six, maybe more closed in and a familiar voice spoke from the doorway It seems,Adrian Vale said, I’ve found my decoder.

Luca pressed Sera behind him as Adrian stepped inside, calm and composed. He held up a cracked screen Sera’s notebook app, the one she’d written the cipher pattern in.She’d deleted it or thought she had Adrian smiled there it is recognition.Luca stepped forward, controlled and furious let her go,you’re negotiating?Adrian laughed. That’s adorable he signaled his men deeper into the shelves.

Walk away,Luca said this ends without blood.You sound like someone preparing to inherit something,Adrian murmured.Maybe I am that wiped the smile off Adrian’s face.He raised a hand ready to signal his men when another voice cut through the tension.Stand down Matteo Arden stepped into the ruined doorway.Withdraw now.

Adrian held his gaze for two long seconds. Then he retreated but before leaving, he looked directly at Sera.I’ll be seeing you again, my pretty decoder. Sera exhaled shakily but the relief didn’t last.Elena’s voice burst through a nearby speaker Matteo, Luca you need to see this.What happened? Matteo barked.

You don’t understand,Elena said The Council… they’ve issued a directive.They want the girl,she whispered. Alive or dead.Sera’s heart beat froze Luca’s hand tightened on her arm. Matteo’s expression hardened and Elena delivered the final blow they want her before sunrise.