CHAPTER 24
The window fogged slightly beneath his palms.
Marcello stood still, unmoving, watching the rain collect and streak down the glass like a clock with no rhythm.
He hadn't seen her in days.
He didn't want to because he wanted to be in control
But it was getting harder than what he'd originally thought .
He was still thinking about her, every damn night.
She'd gotten under his skin in a way that felt unnatural, and to make it worse, she wasn't even aware,
She didn't fight for space in his head she took it quietly. Like fog creeping under a locked door. You didn't see it enter but suddenly, you were surrounded.
And somehow, he hated it but liked it more.
And that promise he made to stay away, to give space, to respect the line Luca had drawn in the dirt?
It was getting harder to keep.
Because the more he tried to forget her...
The more he realized how little control he had left.
He'd left that house after the confrontation, cold and composed, acting like none of it mattered.
But he'd thought about going back every day since.
He never did though.
He pushed off the window, jaw clenched, pacing back toward the desk like the movement would silence the war in his chest.
It didn't.
He sat down slowly, running a hand over his face, the pressure settling behind his eyes.
Marcello didn't miss people.
He dismissed them.
He broke them, buried them and moved on.
But Mia?
What was it about her?
What the hell had she done to him?
He'd seen beautiful. He'd seen innocent. He'd seen fragile girls play at sweetness and sell it like a weapon.
But Mia wasn't playing.
She didn't even know what game she was in.
And that that was the most dangerous thing of all.
Because it made him want .. no crave her.
And that ... That was driving him mad, he was drowning and Marcello Morretti had never lived with need.
Not like this.
While his mind was still spiralling, the door to his office opened and closed with a dull click, Marcello didn't look up, he didn't need to
He already knew who it was by the way the footsteps fell steady, quiet, controlled.
Luca.
He's back.
Marcello kept reading the report in front of him, even though he hadn't processed a word of it in the last ten minutes.
You're late," he said, without looking up.
Then Luca's voice, low:
"There was traffic."
Marcello's mouth twitched at that, not a smile. Something colder, more like amusement that didn't make it to his eyes.
"Right."
He turned a page.
The quiet returned. It wasn't awkward. Just thick.
Luca moved further into the room, his steps silent now. He didn't sit. Didn't ask.
Marcello let him stand.
Eventually, he spoke again still without looking up.
"You going to hover, or take the chair?"
Then Luca sat
Marcello flipped another page too slow to be reading.
The room felt still, but tense, like something was balancing on a wire between them.
When he finally looked up, Luca was seated, posture stiff, shoulders squared wearing all black.
Marcello closed the folder and slid it aside.
He picked up a second file from the desk one of the newer operations out in Calabria. He opened it with the same calm precision he used when taking a gun apart.
"You've got two drops to oversee by Friday," he said. "I'm pulling Antonio out. He's compromised."
Luca nodded. "I'll handle it."
Marcello didn't acknowledge the reply. Just kept reading, flipping pages like he had all the time in the world.
The silence between them stretched.
Not uncomfortable but tight.
Marcello looked at a marked-up photo stapled inside the file. "There's also a shipment out of Antwerp. Late arrival. You'll have to rearrange the port rotation, keep eyes on customs."
"I already started shifting the paperwork and I have someone working on it."
Marcello's fingers paused on the desk edge. "okay good?"he acknowledged
The conversation moved, but not forward. More like sideways like neither of them was ready to step into the center of what was really there.
You'll need to deal with the Taranto crew directly. They're getting sloppy, I also told Angelo you'd handle your own report."
" I will.
Marcello closed the file, snapped the folder shut like a period at the end of a sentence no one wanted to say.
Marcello met his gaze again.
Another moment passed. Long.
Then he nodded once. "That's what I expected."
Silence stretched again but this time it held something under it. Not the business or the operations.
Just unspoken weight.
Marcello opened another file and pretended to read.
"You'll brief me before the end of this week, find Antonio, and don't let anyone know about it."
Luca stood slowly and smoothed his jacket, no rush.
He didn't head for the door just yet and Marcello didn't look up again but he knew Luca hadn't moved yet.
The silence returned longer this time.
Loaded.
Eventually, Luca's voice broke it steady, quiet.
"Anything else?"
Marcello flipped one more page.
"No."
The word was sharp, final, but somehow still unfinished.
Luca nodded. Turned.
As he reached the door, Marcello spoke again not louder, but firmer.
"Let me know if anything goes sideways"
Luca paused, hand on the doorknob.
Then, without looking back:
"You'll be the first to know."
Then door clicked shut.
Marcello didn't move or breathe for a moment.
Then he dropped the file back on the desk, leaning back in the chair, he stared at the empty space across from him.
Quiet.
Still.
Everything unspoken sitting right there, exactly where they both left it. He sat there for a long while, staring at the space Luca had just left.
The air hadn't cleared. If anything, it felt heavier.
Luca was back.
That should've brought order. Familiarity. A return to rhythm but nothing about today felt settled.
Marcello exhaled through his nose, slow and quiet.
He wanted to speak, maybe ask about how she was doing but he knew there was nothing he could say to Luca that wouldn't cross a line too early. Nothing that wouldn't snap whatever thread that was barely holding the peace.
Luca walked into the meeting room , bare concrete walls. Metal chairs. Long table, his steps calculated.
Luca stood at the head of it, sleeves rolled to the elbow, his watch glinting under the dim light. Four men sat around him, each one stiff, each one trying not to breathe too loud.
"Walk me through it again," Luca said, voice even.
Marco , one of the older logistics men, cleared his throat.
"The truck left the docks on time. Everything was scanned. But somewhere after the Via Corta junction, the driver detoured. We lost visual for almost forty minutes."
Luca didn't move.
He didn't blink.
"And you didn't think to pull him out or to continue watching him?" he asked, calm.
Marco hesitated. "We thought it was traffic"
"You thought wrong."
He didn't raise his voice but he was getting angry and they knew it.
One of the younger men at the table Tomaso shifted in his chair. "We traced it back to the service entrance of that new mall project around that area, back loading dock and cameras were off."
Luca's jaw clenched noticeably hard
"Pull every man who touched that route," he said. "I want names. I want schedules. I want to know what time they took a piss and who was leading it."
"Yes, boss."
He turned to Marco.
"And you. You get one chance to fix this."
"I understand."
"You don't. If you did, it wouldn't have happened."
The temperature in the room dropped a degree.
No one breathed.
Luca turned toward the map stretched across the far wall routes, pins and coded tags scrawled in sharp red ink. .
"Leave." He ordered
Marco nodded quickly. "Yes, boss."
Chairs scraped back, footsteps hurried out and the door clicked shut behind them.
Luca didn't move.
He sat there, staring at the board, hand braced against the wall.
He wasn't tired.
He wasn't overwhelmed.
But he was close to snapping.
And it wasn't because of the shipment.
It was because every moment in this goddamn warehouse, giving out orders and fixing other people's mistakes, he was thinking about that conversation with Marcello.
Just then, his phone buzzed on the table
Luca answered before the first ring finished, jaw tight, because he'd been waiting.
"She okay?" he asked.
"She's doing good" Grayson said.
Luca said nothing for a second then asked
" Any signs of coughing or fever?"
"No, she's doing just fine," Grayson said. "shes been sitting by the window most of the morning watching the birds."
Luca nodded slightly
There was a pause, then Grayson continued
"Boss," he added, "she asked if we could get some ice cream so I just wanted to get your permission ,"
" You wanted to take her."
"Unless you don't want me to. I just thought it was a good sign. She hasn't asked for anything in days." Grayson replied
Another silence passed.
Alright," he said.
Grayson waited.
"She can go," Luca clarified. "But she stays close. If she wants to go in and choose it herself, let her but you don't take your eyes off her, you know how she gets in large crowded places."
"I know and I'll keep her close."
"And if she gets nervous, or starts to pull back-"
"I'll bring her home."
Luca didn't move.
Keep me updated and call me when you get there," he said.
Then the line went silent.
Luca leaned back on the chair, the phone was still in his hand, screen dim, call long ended, staring through the dusty warehouse window, eyes unfocused.
She asked for ice cream.
He let that echo in his mind like it meant something more than it should and maybe it did.
And she wasn't with him.
Luca pressed his fingers against the back of his neck, jaw tightening as the weight of that sat heavy on his chest. He should've been the one to take her.
The thought of her looking at Grayson and whispering that soft request like she wasn't sure if she was allowed to want it twisted something in him.
That should've been me.
Not because he didn't trust Grayson. He did.
But he should be there to witness her trying to go out again.
That was his sister. His girl. His whole damn world trying to take one shaky step toward life ... and he wasn't there to see it.
Wasn't there to tell her she could have ten ice creams if she wanted.
Wasn't there to open the door, hold her hand, and walk her into it.
He breathed in, slow. Held it.
Then let it out without a word.
He stood up and went near the warehouse window, phone still in his hand, though it hadn't rung again. He stared at the cracked cement floor below, thinking. Waiting.
He knew she didn't do well outside.
She never had.
Not with people. Not with stares. Not with pressure.
The last time they'd tried, she'd barely made it past the mall entrance, her anxiety kicked in and her in tears wouldn't stop making her curl against her brother like she'd forgotten how to breathe.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen.
Then he called.
Grayson answered on the first ring.
"We just got here," Grayson said before Luca could speak.
Then Luca said, more quietly this time: "let me talk to her"
Grayson didn't question it. "Hold on."
There was a rustle, the phone moving again. Then a soft voice, barely audible, came through the line.
"...Hello?"
It was small. Careful. That unmistakable sweetness in her tone, the kind that made everything inside Luca shift.
"Princess," he said, voice dropping to something warmer. "You okay?"
A pause.
Then her quiet, "Mhm."
"You picked what you wanted?"
"Not yet. I'm still looking."
"That's okay," he said. "Take your time."
She didn't respond immediately, and Luca could almost picture her holding the phone with both hands, trying to be brave just by standing there.
"I'm so proud of you," he added gently.
That got a soft breath from her end like the kind of breath that comes after holding one in too long.
Luca swallowed hard. He could feel that tightness again, but this time, it came with warmth.
"Pick whatever you like." he urged
"...Okay."
"And if it gets too much, you tell Grayson, alright? He'll bring you home, okay."
" Okay," she whispered.
There was a small silence the kind that came when her hands were probably fidgeting with the phone, or she was trying not to overthink what to say next.
"You want me to stay on the line?" he asked.
She hesitated. Then
"...Yes," she whispered
And that was all he needed.
Luca didn't hang up. He didn't speak again right away either he just listened, his silence steady, grounding. Letting her know he wasn't t going anywhere.
On the other end, he could hear faint shuffling. Fabric. Footsteps. A few distant voices people talking, a cart wheeling past.
Then her voice came again, small, breathy.
"Luca..."
He stood straighter. "Yeah, I'm here."
Her voice shook. "There's so many people?" her voice cracked slightly, and that was enough to make something snap behind his ribs.
"Mia," he said softly. "You're okay."
A small pause.
"You're not alone," he continued. "Grayson's right there. You remember that, yeah?"
"...Yeah."
"And I'm here, princess. I'm with you. Every step. Just listen to my voice."
"okay," she murmured, and he could hear it the tremble in her voice, her breathing, short and tight, like she was fighting off the start of a panic.
"You're okay," he repeated. "Just breathe. One at a time. Like we practiced."
A shaky breath. Then another. Then another
"Good girl," he cooed quietly. "That's it. Just like that."
He didn't say anything after that. Just stayed quiet on the other end, breathing slow, listening. Letting her know he was there knowing that, that was what she needed. Just his presence.
" What flavors do you see." He asked after a while.
" Wow, there's so many," she said a little calmer now although her voice still trembled slightly
Luca brushed his hair , eyes closed, then asked. "like which one?"
She scanned. "Strawberry, vanilla, mint, that one with the chocolate chips and there's a blue one."
"Blue?"
"I think it's cotton candy." she answered
He let out the softest chuckle. "You want that one?"
There was a pause. "Maybe."
He didn't push. "Pick whatever you want princess, even the whole store, anything you want it's yours,." he assured and she laughed silently, Grayson had stood there the entire time she looked through the glass display, describing a few more flavors to Luca
Eventually, she said, "I'm going to get the mint one."
"Good choice."
"You like that one too," she added, almost like a secret.
"Yeah," Luca said, voice soft. "I do."
He could picture her small smile at that and then he heard something shifting on the other end of the call then her voice came through again with Grayson's one in the background whispering and urging" it's okay, go on."
" Hi, I.. I'd like to get .... The mint flavoured ice cream... please." She stuttered nervously
" That will cost five dollars, honey." Luca heard an older woman's voice respond
A minute passed
Then she said excitedly " I got it, and I didn't freak out."
"You did good," Luca said. "So good , Mia."
She didn't speak Just hummed
Then he continued "You're brave, you know that?"
"No, I'm not," she said, barely above a whisper.
"You are," he said, voice rougher now. "You're the bravest person I know."
She was quiet again, but the silence was warm. Restful.
Then, her voice: "I miss you."
He let that settle.
"I miss you too," he said quietly. "So much."
Another beat.
"Are you okay?" she asked suddenly.
The question startled him.
"Me?"
"Yeah."
He swallowed. "I'm okay.'
" Okay, I'll save you some ice cream when you get back."
" That's so thoughtful princess,thank you." He smiled to himself.
There was a pause on the line, then Mia's sweet voice again, a little breathless:
"Okay... I'm giving the phone back."
"Alright, princess," Luca said softly. "I'll see you soon."
"Okay, bye love you." She chirped
" I love you too,"he added, soft. "More than anything."
The line shifted again and then Grayson was back.
The second Luca heard his voice, something inside him snapped back into place.
The softness drained from his posture. His spine straightened. His jaw set.
Whatever warmth he'd shown for Mia, it stayed with her. Now, he was in command again but before he could say a word, Luca caught something in the background.
A small sound.
A giggle.
Then the clink of plastic the soft scrape of a spoon against the inside of a cup.
She was eating.
He could hear it. That faint, messy rhythm of someone trying to scoop up melting ice cream before it slid off the side.
And then another soft laugh
Luca closed his eyes for a second, letting that sound settle somewhere deep inside him.
She was okay.
Then he heard Grayson laugh."oh my goodness she's dripping half the cup onto her lap,." he said in between chuckles and Luca smirked faintly
Luca could hear the quiet murmur as Grayson angled the phone away and asked gently, "Hey, you okay? Still good?"
Mia's voice came through faintly.
"Mmhm. My tongue's cold."
Another soft laugh, playful and sleepy.
Luca's chest ached with warmth
He didn't respond right away.
"She's still healing," he said finally. "so take care of her for me Grayson and.. "
Grayson didn't let him finish. "..... Call you if anything happens, I know boss "
" Good" Luca finalized and then hung up.
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Author's note
Thank you so much for 9k reads guys??
And
I just wanted to clarify some things, some readers may be weirded out by Mia's character which is fine but something happened to her and that's why she is the way she is, so to those people who feel like I'm doing too much or making her character act like she's made of glass that's because she's made of glass but she tries to be brave and she's been through a lot which we'll know more about as we continue to write this book.