Chapter 5 - Shadows in the Snow
Night fell heavily over the Wisconsin pine forest. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the lakehouse, a thick snowstorm had begun, blowing white sheets of powder against the glass.
I sat in the cozy armchair in Matteo’s guest bedroom, reading the final pages of a storybook until the four-year-old’s breathing turned slow, rhythmic, and heavy.
Once he was fast asleep, I gently pulled the blanket over his shoulders, kissed his forehead, and slipped quietly out of the room.
The second-floor corridor was dark, lit only by the soft glow of floor-level nightlights. I walked down the hallway toward my assigned guest suite, my hand still throbbing with a dull, manageable ache.
As I passed the open doors of the primary study, I saw Luca sitting behind a massive oak desk. A single desk lamp illuminated his sharp features. He was reviewing financial manifests, a dark unlit cigar clamped between his teeth.
I hesitated in the doorway. "Mr. Moretti?"
He looked up instantly, setting his pen down. "Is Matteo asleep?"
"Yes," I replied, stepping slightly into the warm room. "He went down easily tonight."
"Good." Luca gestured toward the leather chair across from his desk. "Sit down for a moment, Emma."
I walked over and sat down, smoothing my fleece sweater over my knees.
Luca opened a top drawer, pulled out a thick leather folder, and slid it across the dark wood toward me.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Your new employment contract," Luca said flatly.
I opened the folder. The first page displayed a figure that made my jaw drop. The annual salary listed was five times what I was currently making at the estate, complete with full medical coverage, a private housing allowance, and an irrevocable trust fund set up in my name.
"Mr. Moretti... this is too much," I stammered, looking up in disbelief. "I can't accept this."
"It isn't a gesture of charity, Emma," Luca said, leaning back in his executive chair, folding his hands over his chest. "It’s a security measure. As of four o'clock today, you are no longer a temporary staff member. You are Matteo's primary guardian and private estate manager."
He looked at me with an intensity that made my chest tighten.
"Antonio Bellini is a vengeful man," Luca explained calmly. "He knows why the engagement was broken. He knows about you. By signing this contract, you come under the direct legal and physical protection of the Moretti Family Trust. If anyone so much as looks at you the wrong way, it becomes a federal and syndicate offense against my entire organization."
My hands trembled against the thick paper. "You think he’ll try to hurt me?"
"I know he will try," Luca replied, his voice dropping into an icy, lethal register. "Which is why you and Matteo are staying at this lakehouse until I finish cleaning up the docks in Chicago."
Suddenly, the red emergency phone on Luca’s desk began to ring.
It wasn't a standard phone line. It was an encrypted, high-priority satellite connection used only for active security breaches.
Luca picked it up instantly. "Talk to me, Mario."
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Static crackled over the speaker, followed by Mario’s urgent, tense voice. "Boss. We have a perimeter breach at the south gate of the Wisconsin property. Three unmarked SUVs just rammed the outer fence. They're cut through the power lines."
At that exact second, every light inside the massive lakehouse went completely black.
