The hallway leading to the interrogation wing was colder than the rest of the estate. Even after the renovations, even after layers of new walls and reinforced steel, the air here never ward. It still carried the mory of darker years. Luca’s footsteps echoed against the concrete floor, each step steady, controlled, but fueled by a rising fury that pressed against his ribs like a tightening fist.
Two guards stood outside the reinforced door. At the sight of him, both straightened.
"He is inside, sir," one of them said.
"Has he spoken?" Luca asked.
"Not a word since he arrived. He only said he will talk to you."
Luca nodded once. "Open it."
The guard unlocked the heavy steel door. It creaked as it swung inward.
Luca stepped inside.
The interrogation room was sparse. A single tal table. Two chairs. A fluorescent light overhead, flickering slightly. And sitting calmly in the chair opposite the door was Adrian ndez.
He looked nothing like Vittorio.
Where Vittorio had been loud, bloated with arrogance, Adrian was lean, composed, and unsettlingly quiet. His dark hair was slicked back, his posture relaxed, his hands resting loosely on the table. His clothes were damp from the rain, but he seed comfortable. As if he were sitting in a cafe rather than the heart of his enemy’s stronghold.
His eyes lifted to Luca.
"Don DeLuca," he said softly.
Luca did not sit. The door shut behind him.
"You asked for ," Luca said.
Adrian nodded. "I did."
His voice was calm. Too calm. A practiced calm.
"What do you want," Luca asked.
Adrian studied him. "You killed my brother."
"He touched sothing that does not belong to him," Luca replied.
Adrian tilted his head. "You say that as though you believe you own her."
Luca’s jaw tightened. "Choose your words carefully."
Adrian smiled faintly. "You always were your father’s son. Direct. Efficient. Impatient. He believed ownership and protection were the sa thing."
Luca stepped closer. "Speak."
Adrian folded his hands. "The Circle died with Vittorio. I have no intention of rebuilding it. I have no intention of fighting you, or seeking revenge."
Luca gave a cold laugh. "You expect to believe that."
"You should," Adrian replied. "Because the world changed when you killed him. The balance shifted. I have no army left, no territory worth defending, and no interest in starting a war I cannot win."
Luca stared at him. "Then why are you here."
"A warning," Adrian said simply.
"A warning," Luca repeated.
"Yes." Adrian’s eyes were remarkably steady. "About the child."
Luca did not react outwardly. His expression did not change. But a flash of fire rushed beneath his skin.
Adrian continued. "Your wife carries sothing powerful. Sothing more valuable than all the territories you have fought for."
Luca’s voice was low. "You do not speak about her."
Adrian lifted a hand in a small gesture. "It is not disrespect. It is calculation. You married into a bloodline your enemies know very little about."
Luca stared at him. "Explain."
Adrian leaned back. "The Morrelli family did not disappear from weakness. They disappeared because soone wanted their legacy erased. Soone who feared what they could do. What they represented."
Luca felt a slow, cold shift in his chest. He said nothing.
Adrian’s gaze sharpened. "Your wife is one of the last. Which ans your child will be, too."
Luca stepped forward until he stood at the edge of the table.
"Who," he demanded quietly.
Adrian’s lips curved, but it was not a smile. "If I knew, I would not be sitting here. But soone funded the Circle for years. Soone kept us supplied. Soone who was never in our rooms, never in our etings, but always watching."
Luca’s pulse ticked hard behind his ribs.
Adrian continued. "And when Vittorio died, when our network collapsed, they did not reach out to . They did not try to stop you. They did not attempt to salvage anything."
"They disappeared," Luca said.
"Yes," Adrian replied. "And vanishing is sothing a man only does when he is preparing to move."
The light flickered above them.
Luca’s voice dropped to sothing lethal. "If you know nothing, why co here."
Adrian’s eyes softened. "Because Vittorio was a fool. But I am not. I know when a ga has changed. And if there is one thing I have learned from n like the one who funded us, it is that when a new power rises, they seek to control it."
Luca felt his hands clench.
Adrian lowered his voice. "Your child is a threat to soone. Soone old. Soone dangerous. Soone who fears what your bloodlines combined could beco."
Luca’s vision narrowed.
"You think you are walking into peace," Adrian said. "But peace is rarely the end. It is the pause before a new beginning. A beginning soone else has already planned."
Luca stared at him.
Silent.
Unmoving.
A storm contained in human form.
Adrian continued, almost gently. "You can kill . I expect it. But the man who sponsored us is still alive. He has resources. Reach. And an interest in removing obstacles quietly. If he learns your wife is pregnant, he will co for her."
Luca’s voice was barely a whisper. "He already knows."
Adrian’s breath stilled. "Then you have less ti than I thought."
Silence coated the room.
Thick.
Cold.
Unforgiving.
Finally Luca asked, "Why warn ."
Adrian looked at him with sothing almost human. "Because I have no interest in taking what little of my brother’s legacy remains. And because your wife spared a child once, during the siege in Palermo. That child was mine."
Luca’s eyes widened a fraction.
Adrian nodded. "She does not know. She never will. But I will not forget it."
The room felt smaller.
Luca stepped closer, voice quiet but suffocating. "If you ever co near her again. Or speak her na again. I will end you."
Adrian nodded once. "I expect you will."
Luca turned to leave.
"Don DeLuca," Adrian called softly.
Luca stopped.
Adrian’s voice lowered. "Protect her. The shadows coming for her are not the ones you have fought before."
Luca did not turn around.
He opened the door.
Walked through it.
And closed it behind him.
The guards looked at him expectantly.
Luca’s expression revealed nothing.
"Take him to the lower holding cell," Luca said. "No one speaks to him without ."
"Yes sir."
As they moved to carry out the order, Luca walked up the corridor, the cold air following him like a warning.
He reached the top of the stairs and paused.
Aria slept sowhere behind the next door.
His child moved beneath her skin.
Soone had known.
Soone had planned.
Soone was moving in silence.
His fingertips brushed the railing as he stared down the empty hallway.
Luca exhaled.
Not out of fear.
Out of certainty.
The past was not done with them.
But he was done allowing it to bite.
He turned toward Aria’s room.
Whatever was coming, he would end it before it even reached her shadow.
Because Adrian ndez was right about one thing.
The world was changing.
And Luca DeLuca would burn it to the ground before he allowed anything to touch his family.
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