Chapter 3 - The Betrayal Inside Luca’s Empire
Luca did not sleep.
Mila knew because neither did she.
At four in the morning, she walked downstairs and found him in exactly the same position he had occupied an hour earlier.
Standing behind his desk.
Jacket removed.
Sleeves rolled to his forearms.
One hand flat against the polished wood.
His eyes on the photograph of Adrian Vale.
The fire had burned low.
The room smelled faintly of smoke and rain.
Mila stopped in the doorway.
“You’re going to stare a hole through it.”
Luca didn’t look up.
“I’m considering it.”
She entered.
“Any news?”
“No.”
“You’ve been saying that for three hours.”
“Because there is no news.”
“Luca.”
He finally looked at her.
Mila saw something she had never seen at the office.
Exhaustion.
Not physical exhaustion.
Something deeper.
Adrian wasn’t just an employee.
Mila knew that.
Everyone did.
The two men had grown up together.
Adrian had been beside Luca through the death of his father, through the restructuring of the company, through every rumor and every crisis.
If Luca trusted five people, Adrian was probably number one.
And now the security footage showed him placing forty million dollars’ worth of evidence onto Mila’s phone.
“Maybe he was trying to help,” Mila said.
Luca’s expression hardened.
“By using you?”
“He could have sent the file to you.”
“Yes.”
“Unless he thought your communications were compromised.”
Luca became still.
Mila continued.
“You said those transactions involved companies connected to your business.”
“Yes.”
“What if Adrian discovered something and couldn’t trust normal channels?”
“He should have come to me.”
“Maybe he couldn’t.”
Luca said nothing.
Mila sat on the edge of a chair.
“You know him better than I do.”
“I thought I did.”
The answer carried more pain than anger.
Mila lowered her voice.
“What happens if the forty million really was stolen?”
“I find who stole it.”
“And then?”
Luca looked at her.
Mila waited.
He understood what she was asking.
She wanted to know who Luca Romano truly was when people betrayed him.
The stories.
The whispers.
The fear.
For two years, she had deliberately never asked.
Tonight was different.
Luca walked to the window.
“People believe many things about my family.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
“Would you hurt Adrian?”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“If he put you in danger knowingly?”
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
Mila’s pulse stumbled.
“Why does that matter more than the money?”
Luca turned.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then his phone rang.
The interruption saved him.
Or saved Mila.
Neither knew which.
Luca answered.
“Yes.”
His posture changed.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“We’re coming.”
He ended the call.
Mila stood.
“You found Adrian?”
“His car.”
“Where?”
“Warehouse district.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“Excuse me?”
“This is not the office.”
“Exactly.”
“That was not an invitation to argue.”
“You said someone put the file on my phone. Someone followed me home. Someone paid Daniel to steal it. I’m already involved.”
Luca stepped closer.
“And I’m trying to remove you from it.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“I absolutely do if your life is at risk.”
“You asked me to trust you.”
His expression changed.
She continued quietly.
“Trust works both ways.”
That stopped him.
Mila had learned something important about Luca over two years.
He could defeat anger.
He could overpower intimidation.
He could shut down arguments with silence.
But logic bothered him.
Especially hers.
Five minutes later, they were in the car.
“Seat belt,” Luca said.
Mila gave him a look.
“I’m not twelve.”
“Seat belt.”
She clicked it.
“You’re unbearable.”
“So I’m told.”
“Frequently?”
“By you, mostly.”
She almost smiled.
The warehouse district was abandoned in the predawn darkness.
Police were nowhere in sight.
Luca’s security team had arrived first.
Adrian’s car sat beside an empty loading dock.
Driver’s door open.
Keys still inside.
Blood on the steering wheel.
Mila stopped walking.
“Oh God.”
Luca moved in front of her instinctively.
“Stay behind me.”
She didn’t argue this time.
A security man approached.
“No body.”
“Cameras?”
“Disabled.”
“Phones?”
“His personal phone is in the vehicle.”
Luca frowned.
Adrian never left his phone.
That meant either he wanted it found—
Or someone else did.
Mila looked toward the warehouse.
A side door stood open.
“Was that like that?”
The guard turned.
“No.”
Luca’s hand moved to Mila’s arm.
“Back to the car.”
Then a sound came from inside.
Metal scraping concrete.
Everyone froze.
Two security men entered first.
Luca followed.
Mila did not.
For approximately eight seconds.
Then she followed too.
The warehouse smelled like oil and cold steel.
Weak emergency lights illuminated rows of empty shelving.
“Adrian?” Luca called.
No answer.
Then a voice.
“Luca.”
Faint.
From behind a stack of crates.
They found Adrian sitting against a pillar.
His shirt was stained with blood.
One side of his face was bruised.
His hands were bound.
Luca crossed the distance instantly.
“Who did this?”
Adrian laughed weakly.
“Good morning to you too.”
“Who?”
Adrian’s eyes moved past Luca.
To Mila.
His expression changed.
“She’s here?”
“Yes,” Mila said.
“You shouldn’t be.”
“I’m hearing that a lot.”
Adrian grimaced.
“Then they know.”
“Who?” Luca demanded.
Adrian looked at him.
“You have a traitor inside Romano Holdings.”
Luca’s face became unreadable.
“I was under the impression that was you.”
Adrian gave a pained smile.
“Fair.”
Mila stepped closer.
“Did you put the file on my phone?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone watches Luca.”
Adrian looked toward him.
“His phone. His email. His drivers. His assistants.”
Mila blinked.
“I am his assistant.”
“You’re also invisible to people who think they understand power.”
Mila almost laughed at the irony.
“So you used me.”
“I’m sorry.”
Luca’s voice cut in.
“Not good enough.”
Adrian looked at him.
“I found the transfers four months ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because the authorization codes were yours.”
Silence.
Mila turned toward Luca.
“What?”
Adrian continued.
“Every transaction was approved through Luca’s executive credentials.”
Luca’s eyes went cold.
“Impossible.”
“I know.”
“So someone duplicated them.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I traced it.”
Adrian looked around the warehouse.
“They found me before I could finish.”
“Who?”
Adrian breathed slowly.
Then said a name.
“Victor Romano.”
Mila looked at Luca.
He had gone completely still.
“Who is Victor?”
Luca didn’t answer.
Adrian did.
“His uncle.”
Mila frowned.
“I thought your uncle died.”
“So did I,” Luca said.
That was not the answer Mila expected.
Adrian shifted painfully.
“Victor didn’t die nine years ago.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw him.”
Luca stared.
“Where?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I needed proof.”
“You had proof if you saw him.”
“No. I had a man who looked like a ghost from our past.”
Adrian’s voice weakened.
“I followed the money. It leads to accounts controlled by shell companies created before your father died.”
Luca’s expression changed.
His father.
Mila understood instantly.
This wasn’t just theft.
This reached back years.
Adrian looked at her.
“They were watching you because they realized where I hid the evidence.”
“Daniel?”
“Pawn.”
“Why did you pick me?”
Adrian gave Luca a meaningful look.
“Because Luca would burn the city down before letting anyone hurt you.”
Mila stopped breathing.
Luca’s eyes flashed.
“Enough.”
Adrian almost smiled.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
Luca didn’t.
The warehouse suddenly felt warmer.
Mila looked at him.
He looked away.
One of the security men interrupted.
“We need to move.”
Adrian was taken to a private physician.
By sunrise, Mila and Luca were back at the estate.
Neither mentioned Adrian’s comment.
That lasted until breakfast.
Mila set down her coffee.
“Would you?”
Luca looked up.
“Would I what?”
“Burn the city down?”
“No.”
“For me?”
“No.”
“You answered very quickly.”
“Because it was a ridiculous statement.”
Mila leaned back.
“You’re lying.”
“I told you. I’m excellent at it.”
She smiled.
Then became serious.
“Tell me about Victor.”
Luca’s amusement disappeared.
“My father’s younger brother.”
“What happened?”
“They fought.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Luca looked toward the windows.
“Victor wanted the family business run the old way. Fear. Violence. Loyalty purchased through debt.”
“And your father?”
“Wanted legitimacy.”
“Was he legitimate?”
Luca gave her a dry look.
“Eventually.”
“What happened to Victor?”
“There was a car explosion.”
“No body?”
“Not one that could be identified.”
“But everyone assumed?”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
“Very.”
Mila watched him.
“And now?”
“Now we find out whether Adrian saw a ghost.”
Mila’s borrowed phone rang.
Unknown number.
She frowned.
“Nobody has this number.”
Luca looked up sharply.
“Don’t answer.”
It rang again.
Then stopped.
A text appeared.
Mila read it.
Her face drained of color.
Luca took the phone.
On the screen:
Ask Luca what happened to your father.
Mila stared.
“What does my father have to do with this?”
Luca didn’t speak.
“Luca?”
His expression told her everything.
He knew something.
“You know my father?”
“No.”
“That was too fast.”
“Mila.”
“What happened to him?”
“You told HR he died when you were seventeen.”
“He did.”
Luca looked away.
Her pulse quickened.
“How?”
“Car accident.”
“That’s what I was told.”
Mila stood.
“What do you know?”
Luca remained silent.
“Tell me.”
His voice lowered.
“Your father did not die in an ordinary accident.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“What?”
“His name was Michael Bennett.”
“Yes.”
“He worked in corporate accounting.”
“Yes.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“For my father.”
Mila stared.
“No.”
“He uncovered missing money.”
Her chest tightened.
“How much?”
Luca looked at her.
“Forty million dollars.”
The same amount.
Mila slowly sat back down.
“That’s impossible.”
“It isn’t.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know until last night.”
“Then how do you know now?”
“Adrian sent the old records.”
Mila’s hands trembled.
Her father had been dead nine years.
A rainy highway.
A police officer at the door.
Her mother crying.
A funeral.
A closed casket.
All of it suddenly shifted beneath her.
“What happened to him?”
Luca’s face hardened.
“We don’t know.”
“My mother said he lost control of the car.”
“The report said brake failure.”
Mila’s eyes filled.
“That’s the same thing.”
“No.”
She understood.
Someone had tampered with the brakes.
Mila stood abruptly.
“I need air.”
“Mila.”
She walked away.
Luca followed her into the courtyard.
Rain had stopped.
Morning sunlight touched the wet stone.
Mila hugged herself.
“My whole life I thought he died because of bad weather.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t.”
She turned.
“Don’t apologize for something you didn’t do.”
Luca looked at her.
Mila’s eyes narrowed.
“Unless you did.”
His expression changed.
“What?”
“Your family.”
“My family is not me.”
“But your father employed mine.”
“Yes.”
“And your uncle may have stolen the money.”
“Yes.”
“And my father discovered it.”
“Yes.”
Mila swallowed.
“So Victor killed him.”
“We don’t know that.”
“But you think it.”
Luca said nothing.
That silence was answer enough.
Mila’s borrowed phone buzzed again.
Another message.
You deserve the truth. Luca will never give it to you.
Then a photograph loaded.
Mila looked at it.
Her knees nearly gave out.
Luca caught her arm.
“What?”
She handed him the phone.
The photograph was recent.
Taken somewhere sunny.
A man sat outside a café.
Gray hair.
Older face.
But unmistakable.
Mila knew those eyes.
She had seen them every morning of her childhood.
Her father.
Michael Bennett.
Alive.
On the back of the digital image was a date.
Three weeks ago.
Mila whispered:
“My father isn’t dead.”
Luca stared at the photograph.
Then another message arrived.
May you like
If you want to see him alive again, come alone. And do not tell Luca Romano.
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