Chapter 15 - The Unseen Shadow|
Spring arrived in Chicago, melting the thick winter ice off the lake.
My relationship with Luca had grown into something deep, sweet, and undeniably powerful. We kept our romance private from the public eye, enjoying quiet dinners in the estate kitchen and weekend drives along the coastline with Rosa.
For the first time in my life, I felt completely secure.
However, in our world, peace is often just the calm before a sudden storm.
One Tuesday afternoon, while organizing the estate library archives, I came across an old leather-bound ledger tucked behind the primary wall safe. It contained financial records from thirty years ago—signed by Luca's father and a man named Antonio Vance.
I knew that name. Antonio Vance was the ruthless head of the New York syndicate, a man who had been quiet since the Moretti family took over Chicago.
As I flipped through the yellowed pages, a folded piece of paper slipped out from the back cover.
It was a contract. A debt agreement signed twenty-six years ago, right after the death of Luca’s mother.
The terms were brutal: If the Moretti family ever breaks their alliance with the Bellini trust, fifty percent of all Chicago shipping operations revert instantly to the Vance family of New York.
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My blood ran cold.
Vanessa's father hadn't just been angry about a broken engagement. He had been holding a trap. By breaking the engagement with Vanessa Bellini, Luca had unwittingly triggered a legal clawback clause that handed half his empire over to New York.
