Chapter 10 - The Gala of Wolves
The grand ballroom of the St. Regis was a monument to gilded corruption. Crystal chandeliers dripped from the ceilings, reflecting the light of three hundred men and women dressed in black tie and couture, sipping vintage champagne while negotiating territories, drug routes, and assassinations.
When the double doors opened and Lucas Moretti entered, the music didn't stop, but the conversations did.
Lucas looked every inch the ruthless king of the underworld in a bespoke midnight-blue tuxedo. But it was the woman on his arm that stole the breath from the room.
Hannah was breathtaking. Dressed in a backless, emerald-green silk gown that Lucas had personally commissioned from Milan, her chestnut hair swept up in an elegant chignon, she radiated a quiet, regal grace that made every mafia princess in the room look cheap. Matteo walked beside them, holding Hannah's hand tightly, looking handsome and composed in his miniature matching tuxedo.
Whispers erupted like wildfire.
"Is that the nanny?"
"He brought her to the Council Gala?"
"Look at the way he holds her waist..."
Victoria Bellini stood near the champagne fountain, her face pale with fury as she watched Lucas guide Hannah across the floor with an unmistakable air of possession. His hand rested firmly on the curve of Hannah's lower back, his fingers pressing into the emerald fabric, declaring to every boss in the room that she was untouchable.
"Smile, Miss Ward," Lucas murmured close to her ear, his lips brushing her skin, sending a violent shiver down her spine. "They are looking at you because you terrify them. They can't buy you, and they can't predict you."
"They're looking at me like they want to put a bullet in my head, Lucas," Hannah whispered back through a composed smile.
"They'll have to put ten through mine first," he replied smoothly.
Matteo tugged on Hannah's gown. "Hannah, I'm tired. Can we go to the quiet room?"
Lucas nodded to Marco, who stood nearby with two heavily armed guards. "Take Matteo to the private VIP suite on the mezzanine. Lock the door. No one enters except me or Hannah."
Marco bowed his head respectfully. "Understood, boss. Come on, little man."
Matteo gave Hannah a quick hug before taking Marco's hand, heading up the grand staircase toward the secure rooms above.
As Matteo disappeared onto the balcony, Lucas was immediately surrounded by several older Capos, drawing him into a tense, hushed negotiation regarding the dock territories.
Hannah stood by the mezzanine railing, her eyes scanning the crowd below. But something felt wrong. Terribly wrong.
She looked toward the balcony where Marco had taken Matteo.
Standing outside the VIP suite were not Lucas’s personal guards—the loyal men from the estate. They were wearing standard security uniforms, but Hannah noticed a distinctive tattoo on the wrist of the guard on the left: a coiled viper with three daggers.
She had seen that exact drawing before.
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In the unfinished sketches inside Elena’s locked conservatory.
***
