Chapter 2
393 Words
Chapter 2: The Prince in the Shadows
Christian Moretti leaned back in the leather seat of his Maserati, one hand still resting on the steering wheel, the other swirling the ice in his whiskey glass.
“She didn’t even flinch,” he murmured.
“You almost ran her over,” Dario replied dryly from across the private lounge in their family estate. “But yes. She was... different.”
Christian’s jaw tightened. Different. That word echoed in his mind.
He had grown up surrounded by luxury, danger, and deception. Being the Moretti heir meant a life carved in shadows — fast cars, designer suits, and alliances sealed in blood. Empathy was weakness. Modesty was rare. And innocence?
Practically extinct.
But the girl today — she wasn’t like the women at the clubs or the socialites who paraded through his life. She wasn’t trying to impress. She didn’t even recognize who he was.
That intrigued him.
He glanced at the photo now on his phone — a discreet snapshot Dario had managed to pull from nearby security footage.
“Shanaya Kapoor,” Dario said, reading from the tablet. “Indian. Twenty-four. Postgraduate student in music therapy. Lives with her uncle, Raffaele Santini, and family. Teaches part-time at the Florence Conservatory. Clean record. Quiet life.”
Christian tapped his fingers on the screen.
“She’s pretty.”
“She’s harmless,” Dario said, sensing his employer’s dark curiosity turning into something else.
“That’s what makes her dangerous,” Christian said with a half-smile. “You know what happens to people who make me... feel.”
Dario didn’t reply. He knew that smile. It wasn’t affection. It was possession.
Meanwhile, across the city, Shanaya was helping Matteo with his puzzle on the floor. Her laughter filled the living room as he placed the final piece.
“You did it!” she clapped.
“I’m getting better, right Zia?”
“The best,” she said, ruffling his hair.
But the joy in her eyes masked a sudden chill. She had felt it on the way home. Like someone was watching her.
She brushed the thought aside.
What she didn’t know was that her life — once quiet and safe — had just brushed up against a world where rules were rewritten in blood.
And Christian Moretti had no intention of letting her go unnoticed again.
- Writer
