Chapter 5

The Devil You Know

Elena sat on the edge of the couch, her fingers curled around the smooth rim of a crystal tumbler. The amber liquid inside barely moved, despite the storm raging inside her.

Across the room, Luca stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his silhouette framed against the city skyline. He was silent, unmoving, his thoughts locked away behind that impenetrable exterior.

A syndicate.

An outside player had pulled the strings, orchestrated the hit, and now her father was dead. And Matteo, her father's most trusted man, had been nothing more than a disposable pawn.

It wasn't just about Luca anymore.

They had all been played.

Elena swallowed hard and forced herself to speak. "Do you know who they are?"

Luca turned slightly, silver eyes locking onto hers. "Not yet."

His voice was smooth, but she caught the edge of something darker beneath it. Frustration? Anger?

She leaned back, exhaling slowly. "You don't seem surprised."

"I'm not." He turned fully, setting his glass down. "When you're in this life long enough, you learn something very quickly, there's always someone bigger."

Elena clenched her jaw. "You think they're bigger than you?"

Luca smirked, stepping toward her. "Not for long."

A chill ran down her spine. Not from fear, but from the sheer confidence in his voice. Luca DeLuca wasn't the kind of man who accepted being anyone's pawn. If someone had tried to take him out, they had made a fatal miscalculation and mistake. 

Still, something didn't sit right.

Elena set down her drink. "Why did they go after you?"

Luca studied her for a long moment, as if deciding how much to tell her. Then, finally, he spoke.

"Because I wasn't supposed to marry you."

Her breath caught. "What?"

He ran a hand through his dark hair. "Your father made a deal before he died—one that would've changed everything."

Elena's stomach tightened. "What kind of deal?"

Luca's jaw ticked. "One that would have shifted power in a way certain that people didn't like."

She shot to her feet. "And you didn't think to mention this sooner?"

His gaze hardened. "I didn't think it mattered until now."

Elena let out a sharp laugh. "It does matter, Luca! If my father was making deals outside the families, then—"

"He was making a deal with them."

The words hit like a slap.

She stared at him. "You're saying my father was working with the syndicate?"

Luca's expression was unreadable. "Or against them."

Elena's blood ran cold.

The pieces were falling into place, but the picture they painted was terrifying. If her father had tried to cut a deal with an international syndicate, then he would have been playing a game far more dangerous than she ever realized.

And it had gotten him killed.

Luca watched her closely. "Tell me something, wife."

Her breath hitched. That word. She still wasn't used to it.

"What?" she asked, her voice steady despite the storm inside her.

His silver eyes gleamed. "Are you ready to finish what your father started?"

The question settled between them, thick and heavy.

Elena didn't hesitate.

"Yes."

Luca's smirk was slow, dark. "Good."

Before she could process the weight of her own answer, his phone buzzed on the table. He grabbed it, his expression sharpening as he answered.

"Talk."

Elena listened intently as the voice on the other end spoke. She couldn't make out the words, but she saw the way Luca's grip on the phone tightened.

"Where?" he demanded.

A pause.

Then Luca's smirk vanished, replaced with something lethal.

"We'll be there in ten."

He hung up, turning to her.

"They found him."

Elena's pulse spiked. "Who?"

"The man who paid Matteo."

A mix of adrenaline and dread surged through her veins. "Where?"

Luca grabbed his jacket. "An old warehouse near the docks. He's waiting."

Elena frowned. "Waiting?"

Luca's gaze darkened. "He wants to talk."

That was never a good sign.

Elena didn't hesitate. "I'm coming."

Luca studied her for a second, then nodded. "Then let's go."

—

The black SUV rolled to a slow stop outside the abandoned warehouse, its engine purring like a predator lying in wait.

Luca stepped out first, his men flanking him instantly. Elena followed, her pulse steady despite the weight of what was about to happen.

She wasn't a sheltered mafia princess anymore, she is now a mafia herself.

She had made her choice.

And she wouldn't back down now.

Inside, the air was thick with dust and something metallic, blood or rust, she wasn't sure. The dim overhead lights cast long shadows, stretching across the cracked concrete floor.

And in the center of the room, seated in a steel chair, was a man she had never seen before.

His suit was wrinkled, his lip split, but the way he sat,calm, composed, made her uneasy.

Luca's men had roughed him up, but he wasn't afraid.

Elena's stomach tightened. That meant he wasn't alone.

Luca stepped forward, his presence filling the room. "You wanted to talk?"

The man lifted his bruised face. A slow, eerie smile spread across his lips.

"You're Luca DeLuca." His accent was foreign, European, maybe Russian.

Luca didn't react. "And you are?"

The man chuckled. "Just a messenger." His gaze flicked to Elena. "And you... you're your father's daughter."

Something cold slithered through her veins.

She kept her expression blank. "If you're the messenger, then what's the message?"

The man's smile widened.

"They're watching."

A chill crept up Elena's spine.

Luca's expression remained unreadable. "Who?"

The man leaned forward slightly, his cuffs stained with dried blood.

"The ones who own everything."

The words sent a bolt of unease through her.

Luca took a slow step closer. "Then tell them something for me."

The man arched his brow. "And what's that?"

Luca's smirk was sharp enough to cut.

"I don't take orders."

Before the man could respond, a single shot rang out.

The sound echoed in the empty warehouse.

The man slumped forward, blood pooling beneath his chair.

Elena's breath caught.

Luca turned to his men. "Burn it down."

His cold silver eyes met hers, and for the first time, she realized something terrifying.

Luca wasn't just going to survive this war.

He was going to win it.

And she had just tied herself to the most dangerous man in the game.