Chapter 5 - The Broken Daisy
June reached them in seconds, throwing her frail body between Luca and the little girl. She shoved Sophie behind her skirts, her whole frame trembling with maternal fury.
“Back away!” June shouted, her umbrella raised like a weapon. Parents on the sidewalk stopped to stare, murmuring amongst themselves. “I told you to stay away from us! I swear to God, Luca Moretti, I will scream this entire street down!”
Luca stood up slowly, raising his empty hands in a universal gesture of peace. “Mrs. Bell, please calm down. She dropped her drawing. She fell. I was only helping her up.”
“We don't need your help! We don't want your hands anywhere near this child!” June’s chest heaved. She snatched the soggy drawing from Luca’s fingers, crumpling the edges in her haste. “You think because you wear expensive clothes and own the city that you can buy our forgiveness? You think you can play father to the girl whose father your family murdered?”
Several onlookers gasped. A few parents pulled their children back, hurrying away from the escalating scene.
“Grandma, stop!” Sophie cried, tugging at June’s coat. “He didn't hurt me! He helped me!”
“Hush, Sophie!” June snapped, her voice breaking. “You don't know what he is. You don't know what they do.”
Luca looked around. He saw two men in a parked gray sedan across the street taking photos. They weren't his men. The Salieri crew was already circling. By standing here, by engaging with this family in public, he was painting a massive target on their backs.
“Mrs. Bell,” Luca said, his voice dropping into a low, urgent hum. “You have every right to hate me. You have every right to curse my family’s name until your dying breath. But you are causing a scene, and you are drawing eyes you do not want looking at your granddaughter.”
June looked around, suddenly realizing the crowd that had gathered. Her face hardened, but the defiance in her posture remained. “Is that a threat, Mr. Moretti?”
“It is a warning,” Luca said gravely. “Your mortgage with Apex Holdings. Do not sign any paperwork they bring to your door tomorrow. Do you understand me? Under no circumstances do you sign.”
June froze. Her eyes widened with fresh dread. “How do you know about my mortgage? Have you been spying on us? Are you trying to take my house now, too?”
“I am trying to keep you from losing it,” Luca said simply. He took one step back toward his car. “Sophie.”
The little girl peeked out from behind her grandmother’s coat, her face wet with a mixture of rain and tears.
“Keep drawing,” Luca said quietly.
He turned on his heel, walked back to his vehicle, and slid into the rear seat. As the car pulled away, he looked in the side mirror. June was holding Sophie tightly against her chest on the rain-swept sidewalk, watching the black sedan disappear with an expression of terror and utter confusion.
May you like
Inside the car, Marco glanced back. “Boss... that gray car across the street. Southside plates. They were snapping pictures.”
“Track them,” Luca commanded, his jaw tight. “Find out who authorized them to tail me. And double the perimeter on Maple Street. If anyone steps foot on that lawn without June Bell’s invitation, put them in the ground.”
