Chapter 9
Luca
Two hours after Sienna's pregnancy was confirmed, I made the call.
"Marco, activate Protocol Seven. We're moving underground."
"Boss, are you sure? The penthouse security is solid—"
"Not solid enough. Not anymore." I looked toward the bedroom where Sienna was resting. "Someone's been watching us since the wedding. Building a file. The blackmail photo was just the beginning. I won't wait for them to make their next move."
"Understood. ETA twenty minutes."
I woke Sienna gently. Her eyes opened, still foggy with sleep. "What's happening?"
"We're leaving. Getting you somewhere safer." I pulled clothes from the dresser. "Get dressed. We don't have much time."
She sat up slowly, wincing at the bruises from her fall. "Luca, I can barely walk—"
"Then I'll carry you."
As we moved through the narrow service corridor behind the club, I kept my hand firmly pressed against the small of Sienna's back. She stumbled slightly, still weak from her collapse. Without thinking, I swept her into my arms.
"I can walk," she hissed.
"And I can carry you faster," I replied. "Time is something we don't have."
She was lighter than she should be—hadn't been keeping food down since the pregnancy confirmation. She fit against my chest perfectly, her head tucked beneath my chin. Even exhausted and pale, she was the most precious thing I'd ever held.
I tightened my grip, feeling her small gasp of surprise.
"Too tight?" I asked roughly.
"No," she whispered, and I felt the shift in her—the moment she stopped fighting and let herself lean into my strength. Trust, fragile and new.
Her body molded against mine, soft and warm and perfect. I could feel every breath she took, the rise and fall of her chest against mine. My hand tightened on her thigh—bare skin where her sleep shorts had ridden up—and I felt her sharp intake of breath.
Not fear. Something else.
Something that made my cock harden despite the danger surrounding us, despite Marco and Angelo flanking us, despite every reason this was the worst possible time to want her.
She shifted slightly in my arms, and the movement pressed her more firmly against my arousal. Her eyes widened, meeting mine.
"Don't," I warned quietly, my voice rough. "Don't look at me like that right now."
"Like what?" she whispered.
"Like you want me to forget we're being hunted and take you against the nearest wall."
Her breath hitched, pupils dilating. "I don't—"
"Yes, you do." I adjusted my grip, forcing myself to focus on getting her to safety rather than the heat building between us. "And later, when you're safe, I'm going to make you admit it."
Marco led the way, gun drawn, while Angelo took the rear. We reached the freight elevator, descended three levels below the club's basement, and finally entered the underground apartment.
"Welcome home," I said, setting Sienna on her feet.
She swayed slightly, eyes widening as she took in her surroundings. Despite being underground, the space was designed to feel open—high ceilings, recessed lighting that mimicked natural daylight, and screens displaying exterior views of the city.
"This is..." she began.
"Secure," I finished. "That's what matters."
Angelo checked the security grid. "Perimeter sensors showing green across all zones."
"Good. Marco, keep Francesco on perimeter duty only. No access to rotation schedules."
Marco's expression shifted—understanding. "The questions he's been asking?"
"Exactly. If he's the leak, I want to limit what he can compromise. Keep it subtle."
After my men departed, silence fell. Sienna stood with her arms wrapped around herself, looking like a caged animal assessing its prison.
"So this is it?" she finally asked. "My new cage?"
"This is your protection," I corrected, moving to pour her water. "Until the threat is neutralized."
"What about my sister? Isabella will worry if I disappear."
"Your sister will be told you're on a trip. It's safer for her not to know where you really are."
"So I'm a prisoner. Again."
"You're protected," I corrected.
"No." Her voice went sharp. "You told me I wasn't in a cage, remember?
You said there was a difference between owned and protected.
" She moved closer, eyes blazing. "Where's the difference now?
You're making every decision about my life without asking what I want.
You're locking me underground. How is this any different from the first night you forced me into your car? "
"The difference is I'm keeping you alive—"
"By treating me like property!" Her voice rose. "You promised me. Hours ago, you promised we'd face threats together. That I was your partner." She laughed bitterly. "Partners make decisions together, Luca. This is you putting me back in my cage and telling me it's for my own good."
"It is for your own good," I snapped. "You nearly died falling down a stairwell this morning. You're pregnant, vulnerable, and someone wants you dead."
"I want you to include me in decisions about my life!" She was right in my face now. "Stop making decisions for me and start making them with me. Or admit that all those pretty words about partnership were just another way to control me."
"You're my wife," I said sharply. "And you're carrying my child. That makes you the most valuable target in the city."
"Don't pretend this is about me. This is about your heir. Your bloodline. Your legacy."
I crossed to her in three strides. "That 'complication' is our child. And I will burn this city to the ground before I let anyone harm it—or you."
"By locking me away? That's not protection, Luca. That's possession."
"Call it whatever you want," I growled. "But these are the terms."
She stared at me, then turned away. "Wake me if we're about to die. Otherwise, I'd rather not watch you destroy yourself trying to control everything."
The bedroom door closed with a soft click.
Three days passed in the underground apartment. Three days of reviewing intelligence reports and watching my empire fracture while Sienna grew more restless with each passing hour.
By the third day, the consequences were becoming impossible to ignore.
My phone vibrated. Marco's voice was grim.
"Boss, they made their move. Three hits last night—coordinated attacks. Restaurant on Fifth Street firebombed, shipping warehouse destroyed, Romano's Lounge shot up."
My knuckles whitened. "Casualties?"
"Two of our guys hospitalized. Martino's stable, but Caruso's lungs took serious damage." Marco paused. "They left a note at the lounge, spray-painted on the wall: 'The prince is hiding while his kingdom falls.'"
Ice flooded my veins. They knew I'd gone underground, knew I'd made myself vulnerable by choosing her safety over visible strength.
"What else?"
"Dante's been calling. We're losing ground on the West Side—"
"Put him through."
A click, then Dante's voice, tight with anger.
"Boss, we just lost the cement contracts on the West Side.
All of them. Giuseppe's people showed up with new documentation, claiming breach of terms." His frustration bled through.
"Three years of cultivation, gone. They're using last night's attacks as justification—saying you can't guarantee security anymore. "
"How many contracts?"
"Twelve major ones. Enough to cripple our construction operations for two years. And boss—the Torrino crew is questioning whether the Romano-Moretti alliance is as strong as they thought. Giuseppe's spinning the narrative, saying the hits prove you can't protect your own territory."
I saw Sienna appear in the doorway, understanding dawning on her face.
I ended the call. The empire I'd rebuilt from prison was being systematically dismantled while I hid in a bunker.
"They're right, you know," Sienna said quietly.
I turned to face her.
"They're right that you're hiding," she continued. "Right that this looks like weakness. Right that your empire is burning while you play protector down here."
"I'm keeping you alive," I said through gritted teeth.
"Are you?" She gestured around the apartment. "Or are you just giving them time to destroy everything before they come for us anyway? They're not just attacking your business. They're proving you're not the man everyone feared."
The words hit like physical blows.
"What would you have me do?" I demanded. "Walk into their trap? Get myself killed and leave you and our child completely unprotected?"
"I don't know!" Her voice cracked. "But I can't watch this. Can't listen to your men die, your empire crumble, your enemies win—all while you tell yourself this is protection."
She moved back toward the bedroom.
"Wake me if we're about to die," she said. "Otherwise, I'd rather not watch you destroy yourself one phone call at a time."
The door closed again.
I stood there, torn between following her and accepting the truth of her words. My father's voice echoed: "The moment you stop watching, Luca, is the moment they move against you."
But what good was watching if I was powerless to act?
I returned to the security monitors, checking each feed with methodical precision. My phone buzzed: Perimeter sweep complete. All clear.
All clear. The words mocked me.
Nothing was clear. My empire was crumbling, my men were dying, my enemies were circling—and I was trapped underground with a woman who'd just accused me of cowardice.
A woman who was right.
Hours passed. I made calls, issued orders, and reviewed footage. Sienna remained in the bedroom, the closed door a clear message I respected.
At 3 a.m., a soft notification chimed from the security system. I checked the feeds immediately.
There. A shadow moving along the western perimeter wall. The figure was dressed in black, face obscured, movements precise and professional. They disabled one of the exterior cameras before slipping into a blind spot.
My blood ran cold. No amateur would know about that particular vulnerability.
I hit the silent alarm, then grabbed my gun.
"Luca?" Sienna's voice came from the bedroom doorway. She stood there in one of my shirts, her eyes going immediately to the gun in my hand, then to the security monitors showing the breach.
"Someone's outside," I said.
"What's happening?"
Before I could answer, the security monitor flashed red. Another camera down. Then another.
"Someone's coming," I said, crossing to her and pressing a gun into her hands. "Someone who knows how to get in—because they've been here before."