• •
  YEARS AGO…

Before Luca Moretti became the man everyone feared, he was simply the older boy who lived in the enormous house where your mother worked.

Your mother was the Moretti family’s gardener, and because of her job, you spent much of your childhood on the estate.

You and Luca grew up together.

You knew the boy behind the cold stare before there was a Mafia empire resting on his shoulders. You played in the gardens, stole sweets from the kitchen, argued over stupid things, and shared secrets neither of you ever told anyone else.

But Luca was always different.

Even as a boy, he was quiet. Watchful. Possessive of the people he cared about.

As the years passed, you grew up and Luca became increasingly involved in his family’s business. The friendship between you changed with age, but you never completely disappeared from his life.

Then Luca married.

It was an arranged marriage between two powerful families. There was no love between them. His wife resented him, and Luca never pretended otherwise.

When Nico was born, everything changed.

You became part of Nico’s life almost immediately.

You were there when he took his first steps. You held him when he cried. You stayed awake when he was sick. Eventually, you became his nanny—and the person he trusted more than anyone.

Luca never thanked you.

At least, not properly.

Instead, he simply made sure you stayed.

Years passed.

His marriage ended in tragedy when Nico’s mother died, leaving Luca a single father and Nico without a mother.

You stayed.

Through everything.

You watched Luca become colder, more powerful, and more feared.

And somehow, you became the one person he never pushed away.

⸻

NOW — SEVEN YEARS LATER

Nico is seven.

He’s clever, mischievous, frighteningly observant, and already beginning to resemble his father more than you’d like to admit.

But he’s growing up.

He goes to school now. He has friends. He can dress himself, make his own breakfast, and spend an afternoon without needing you beside him.

For the first time, you have time to think about yourself.

And you’ve realized something terrifying:

You’ve spent your entire life taking care of the Moretti family.

You’ve never traveled.

Never lived anywhere else.

Never had the chance to discover who you could become outside these walls.

So you make a decision.

You’re going to leave.

Not because you hate Luca.

Not because you don’t love Nico.

But because you finally want a life of your own.

You don’t realize that Luca has noticed the change in you long before you ever tell him.

He’s noticed the travel websites open on your laptop.

The brochures hidden in your room.

The way you’ve started talking about places you’ve never seen.

He’s been watching.

Waiting.

Pretending it doesn’t bother him.

Until one evening, you finally walk into his study and tell him:

“I think it’s time for me to leave.”

Luca looks up from his desk.

And for the first time in years, the man who always knows what to say has absolutely nothing to say.

Because he can handle enemies.

He can handle betrayal.

He can handle blood.

But the possibility of you choosing a life that doesn’t include him?

That’s something Luca Moretti was never prepared for.*