Chapter 2 - CALLA’S FALL
1361 Words
Calla Ricci had always believed the law was clean.
Hard. Brutal. Unforgiving, yes — but clean. It was the one thing in her life that followed rules, that didn’t change its mind, that didn’t betray. The law protected those who wielded it well, and Calla wielded it like a blade.
Which was why, as she stood alone in the darkened boardroom of Ricci & Stroud Law, holding a letter that could ruin everything she’d built, she felt something unfamiliar and unwelcome tightening around her throat.
Fear.
The letter trembled in her hand.
Conflict of interest.
Suspicious violations.
Ethical breach pending investigation.
Words that weren’t just damaging — they were fatal for an attorney like her.
“They’re coming after me,” Calla whispered.
“Not just you,” a voice behind her sighed. “Us. The firm.”
Calla turned to find her partner, Jeff Stroud, leaning against the doorway like he had aged ten years in a day. His normally immaculate suit was wrinkled. His tie was loose. His expression hollow.
“They want us gone,” he said.
Calla clenched the letter. “My case was airtight, Jeff. You know that.”
“Your case was against the Orsini Syndicate,” he said quietly. “And the Orsinis don’t lose.”
“That’s not my problem,” Calla snapped, heat rising beneath her skin. “I don’t bow to criminals.”
Jeff let out a humorless laugh. “Maybe you should start. Because this—” he gestured at the letter, “—is their warning shot. If we fight back, the next one won’t be on paper.”
Calla stiffened. “We don’t negotiate with threats.”
“We also don’t survive them,” Jeff shot back. “Not these kinds.”
Calla moved past him into the hallway, the sound of her heels echoing sharply over the cold marble. She needed air. Space. A second to think. But dread followed her like a shadow.
Her career wasn’t just important — it was her entire identity. She’d fought her way through law school. She’d built her reputation case by bloody case. She had clawed her way to the top because nobody, not even fate, handed her anything.
Now, her firm — her family — was hanging by a thread. And someone was cutting it.
She stepped into her office and froze.
A man was sitting in her chair.
He didn’t belong in a law office.
He belonged on magazine covers or wanted posters — tall, breathtakingly composed, dressed in a charcoal suit that probably cost more than her entire wardrobe. His posture was relaxed, but there was a coiled power beneath it. Like someone who didn’t need to raise his voice to be obeyed.
His eyes rose to meet hers.
Black. Cold. Strangely hypnotic.
“Ms. Ricci,” he said smoothly. “Finally.”
“What the hell—?” Calla reached for her phone, but the man lifted a hand.
“If you dial anything,” he said calmly, “someone outside this building will die. Not you. Just… someone.”
Her stomach plummeted. “Who are you?”
“Someone who can help you.” His gaze flicked to the letter still clenched in her hand. “And someone you now desperately need.”
Calla stood straighter. “Get out of my office.”
“I will,” the man said, “after I deliver a proposition.”
“I don’t want your proposition.”
“Mm.” He tapped a finger on her desk. “You will.”
Before she could respond, Jeff rushed in behind her. “Calla— I tried to stop him—”
The stranger didn’t even look at him. “Stroud. Close the door.”
Jeff shut it without thinking.
Calla stared. “You’re unbelievable.”
“I’ve been called worse,” the man said with a faint smile. “Allow me to introduce myself. Adrian Valenti.”
Calla froze.
She’d heard that name.
Everyone in the legal world had.
The Valenti Family wasn’t just a mafia clan — they were one of the most feared in Europe. Publicly, they owned shipping lines, real estate empires, tech investments. Privately, they controlled half the shadow economy.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Calla said carefully. “And I don’t deal with—”
“Mafia?” he supplied.
Calla’s jaw tightened. “You said it, not me.”
He stood then, and it was like the office shrank around him. He moved with quiet dominance, like the world bent slightly to make room for him.
“You’re being targeted by the Orsini Syndicate,” he said. “They plan to bankrupt your firm within the month. And if that doesn’t work, they plan to kill you.”
Jeff gasped. “Kill—? You can’t be serious.”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened. “Would you like the list of ways they considered doing it? I can be very informative.”
Jeff turned pale.
Calla didn’t move, didn’t blink, didn’t breathe. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because, Ms. Ricci…”
Adrian stepped close enough that she felt heat radiate from him.
“…your destruction is inconvenient to me.”
“Inconvenient?” she spat. “I’m sorry my life isn’t accommodating your schedule.”
Instead of reacting with irritation — or violence — Adrian smiled.
It was worse.
“You have fire,” he murmured. “I like that.”
She stepped back. “Stay away from me.”
“I would,” he said softly, “if that were an option.”
Calla swallowed. “State your business.”
Adrian tilted his head, studying her the way a predator studies prey — not hungrily, but knowingly.
“I need legitimacy,” he said. “A union. A strategic alliance.”
“With a law firm on the verge of collapse?” Calla scoffed. “You’re insane.”
“With a woman,” he corrected.
Calla blinked. “I—what?”
Adrian slid a document from his jacket. “Marry me.”
The words hit her like a physical force.
Jeff choked. “Are you— Calla, he’s— this is— we can’t—”
Adrian ignored him completely. “Marry me, and the Valenti Family will protect your firm, your staff, your reputation. Every threat against you dies the moment you take my name.”
Calla’s pulse pounded in her ears.
“You want a marriage of convenience,” she said slowly. “To a complete stranger.”
Adrian’s gaze darkened. “You’re not a stranger.”
Her skin prickled. “We’ve never met.”
“No,” Adrian murmured, “but I’ve known your name for a very long time.”
The room fell painfully silent.
Calla took a step back. “I’m not marrying a mafia don.”
“You will,” he said with terrifying certainty, “if you want to live.”
She exhaled shakily. “Why me?”
“Because you are clean,” Adrian said. “Respected. Brilliant. Untouched by criminal stain. And because…” His eyes flickered with something she couldn’t identify. “…you are the only woman who fits what I need.”
Her throat tightened. “Which is?”
His voice dropped to something deeper. Darker.
“Someone strong enough not to break under my world.”
The words unsettled her more than the threat.
He moved toward the door as if the matter were already settled.
“You have twenty-four hours, Calla,” he said. “Accept, and you save everything. Decline…”
He paused, looking over his shoulder. “…and you lose far more than your firm.”
He left without another word.
Jeff slumped into the nearest chair. “Calla. Calla, you can’t— you won’t—”
But Calla couldn’t hear him.
Her world had already begun to tilt.
Because the man who just offered her salvation…
felt more like a warning.
A storm she was being forced to walk into.
And for the first time in her life, Calla Ricci — fearless, relentless, untouchable — had no idea how to win.
- Writer
