CHAPTER 20
It was almost 10 a.m.
The morning was quiet, except for the soft hum of the birds outside.
Luca stood in the kitchen, stirring honey into a mug of warm water. Mia hadn't touched her food again, she hadn't moved from her room all morning and the apartment felt heavier somehow like it was holding its breath.
He kept telling himself she was just sleeping off the fever but the circles under her eyes, the way she'd barely spoken last night it clung to his thoughts like something sour.
Then, there it was.
A knock.
The spoon froze mid-stir.
Luca's hand went still.
He stood in the middle of the small kitchen, eyes locked on the front door. Luca didn't move right away, his grip tightened around the mug and for a second, he considered pretending he hadn't heard it but something in his gut turned sharp and cold. There was something off with this knock
It wasn't a request
It was a command
It wasn't loud nor rushed. Just three slow, evenly spaced taps, no pause, no second round. Just that steady rhythm, then silence.
And that was the problem.
Grayson had a knock five taps, always the same. A quick one-two, pause, then three. Like a code only they understood.
This one wasn't that.
Luca lowered the spoon slowly into the mug. His fingers were tense around it. The air in the room had shifted barely, but enough for him to notice. Like the walls were holding their breath.
He moved toward the drawer, opened it quietly, and pulled out the slim knife he always kept at the back. No questions, no hesitation, just an instant reflex.
Nobody knocked on this door.
Nobody even knew about this door.
He stayed out of view as he approached it. One step at a time his bare feet silent on the floor.
Whoever it was hadn't knocked again.
He looked through the peephole.
And his heart stuttered. Oh Fuck!!!
Marcello.
Marcello Morretti.
Standing there. Alone. Calm. Hands in his coat pockets like he had all the time in the world.
Luca blinked, took a step back, disarmed not from fear, but from confusion.
Marcello shouldn't be here.
Still, the man waited patient as a shadow, staring at the door like it would open on its own.
Luca unlocked it slowly, then pulled the door open just enough to speak without stepping aside.
He didn't say hello.
Didn't ask what Marcello wanted.
He just stared at him and said flatly, "Marcello what are you doing here and how did you find this place?"
Marcello looked at him for a moment.
Then gave a quiet, almost amused exhale. "Let's not pretend you didn't know I've been following you this whole time"
His voice was low. Not mocking. Just matter-of-fact.
Luca didn't move. "Fuck!!!!" He cursed his face flat, "of course, how could I forget"
Marcello lifted a shoulder, unbothered.
Then a pause.
As if the moment had passed and none of it mattered, he added casually:
"I was in the area. Thought I'd check in. You've been quiet and you've been ignoring my calls."
"I told you "
"Yeah. You told me." Marcello stepped inside without being asked. His presence filled the small apartment like smoke, like it was routine, like this was just another room he owned by existing in it. "Still. I like to confirm things myself.".
Luca didn't stop him, but he didn't like it either.
He shut the door behind them, slid the lock back into place, then turned.
Marcello was already walking further in, eyes flicking around the room quick but deliberate. The layout, the sketchbook on the arm of the couch, the blanket tossed to one side. The faint trace of menthol in the air, like someone had rubbed vapor rub into skin not long ago.
Luca followed him with his eyes, arms crossed, tension wound tight across his shoulders.
Marcello finally stopped near the small table. Picked up a ceramic mug, still warm. Sniffed it. Mint and honey. He didn't say anything, just set it down again.
Then he looked over his shoulder. "You look like hell, by the way."
"I've been resting."
"Right." Marcello turned fully now, arms still relaxed at his sides. "That stomach bug must've really knocked you out."
Luca held his stare. "What do you want?"
Marcello blinked, feigning offense. "I told you. I came to check in."
"Since when do you check in?"
Marcello tilted his head, expression unreadable. "You've been off-grid for three days, stupid excuses. No updates. It's unlike you."
"I said I needed time."
"For what, mint tea."
"I texted," Luca muttered. "Told you I was dealing with something."
"You've been off three days," Marcello said, stepping around him. "That's generous, even for me." Luca looked at him with a raised brow.
Just then Marcello stepped closer slightly then added. "You're one of my sharpest men, Luca, and my second so of course I'd show up."
Luca narrowed his eyes. "You don't check in on people. You don't play nurse. You don't chase soldiers when they take time off."
Marcello didn't deny it.
Luca dropped his arms from their crossed position, voice low now. "So why are you really here?"
Marcello looked at him.
And this time, he didn't speak right away.
He just stood there, taking in Luca's posture the guarded stance, the cut-short sleep in his eyes, the tension humming beneath his calm like a current.
Then he gave the smallest shrug.
"Such little faith you have in me, I was concerned." Marcello feigned innocence
Luca actually laughed short, dry, disbelieving. "Concerned?"
Marcello nodded, eyes level. "You've been loyal for years, I thought maybe something was wrong."
"Bullshit," Luca muttered.
Marcello raised an eyebrow. "Is it?" he smirked
"You don't do drop-ins. You don't even show up to funerals unless someone needs to see your face."
Marcello's expression didn't shift.
"And now I'm supposed to believe you followed me to a safehouse in which my sister lays in because you were worried?"
Marcello didn't respond.
Luca stared at him, the silence growing heavier between them.
Then something flickered in his eyes not anger but something colder. Realization. A step back through his own memory.
Luca looked away for a moment, ran a hand through his hair and cursed softly under his breath as the pieces clicked together in his head.
And then quiet, bitter "You're not here for me."
Marcello didn't deny it.
He didn't have to and his gaze didn't waver either
You've got nerve," Luca said finally, his voice low.
Marcello gave a half-shrug. "Figured it was time I saw things for myself."
Luca stepped aside. Wordless. Tense.
He didn't need to ask what Marcello meant. Mia. That was why he was here. Not the business. Not the missing reports. Not the meetings Luca had skipped.
Marcello gaze flickered subtly down the hallway just once.
"She asleep?" he asked casually like he was talking about the weather.
Luca's jaw tightened. "Don't."
Marcello's mouth tugged slightly, something between a smirk and restraint. "I'm not here to start something."
"Then don't."
They stood there, silent for a beat. Friends. Brothers in blood, but now toeing a very dangerous line.
She's not some pawn, Marcello."
"I know," Marcello said, turning his back to the living room windows. " She's special."
That landed harder than either of them thought
Luca didn't respond. He just watched him, tense. Waiting.
Marcello looked around one more time, then met Luca's stare. "I won't touch her. But I'm not blind, Luca, you can't keep her hidden away from me forever and you know I always get what I want."
"She's not part of this world," Luca said. "She's not a secret I kept because I don't trust you. I kept her separate because she deserves to be untouched by this life."
Marcello's gaze shifted towards the hallway. "I didn't touch her." he had slipped and he knew it.... and Luca's gaze shifted in realization
"But you've been watching her haven't you?" Luca sneered his voice lethal.
Marcello turned slightly. His expression didn't change. " I know you already knew that so let's not play pretend."
"I want to hear it from you," Luca replied.
" What difference does it make, plus it was just curiosity but you should know, I wouldn't dare harm her or leverage her against you, if I wanted to I would have by now and you know it." Marcello growled.
" I don't care," Luca said, stepping forward but deep down he knew Marcello was being honest about his statement. "You don't look at her. You don't follow her. You don't show up where she is. I don't care what excuse you tell yourself you leave her out of this."
Marcello didn't flinch.
He studied Luca with the calm of a man who wasn't used to being warned let alone by someone who served beneath him but this wasn't about power.
"I don't make excuses, Luca"
You should've never been near her," Luca said, voice tightening. "You saw what I've spent years protecting."
Marcello's stare didn't shift. "And maybe now I understand why."
And that,
That was the crack the one Luca didn't want to hear spoken out loud.
He stepped closer, his voice just above a whisper. "She's not for you. Not to think about and not even for a second, she's mine to protect."
Marcello didn't respond.
He didn't need to.
Because the damage was already done not by words, but by what was left unspoken between them.