Chapter 6 - Blood on the Crystal
The tension in the ballroom was so thick that several nearby socialites quickly stepped back, signaling their bodyguards to stand on alert.
Vincente Valenti advanced two steps, his eyes glaring with contempt at Naomi. "You disgrace my daughter, break an honored blood pledge, and replace her with a girl who washes dishes for minimum wage? Have you lost your mind, Moretti?"
Vivian sneered, gaining confidence from her father’s presence. "She’s a common thief, Father! She seduced him with lies after attacking Isabella! Look at her wearing Moretti diamonds—she probably stole that necklace right off the old woman’s neck!"
Several guests whispered amongst themselves, casting suspicious glances at Naomi.
Naomi felt her palms sweat, but she refused to cower. Remembering the look in Isabella's eyes that morning, Naomi held her head high and looked directly into Vincente’s eyes.
Before she could speak, however, Luca’s hand tightened slightly on her waist, drawing her closer against his side. The aura radiating from him was suddenly lethal.
"Choose your next words with absolute caution, Vincente," Luca warned, his voice cutting through the grand room like a razor through silk. "Because your daughter is alive tonight solely because my mother did not want blood spilled in her music room."
"How dare you threaten us!" Vivian shrieked. "Father, do something! He assaulted our family’s honor!"
Vincente smirked coldly, snapping his fingers. Four armed men in dark suits stepped forward from the shadows of the banquet hall, their hands tucked into their jackets. "You think you rule this city unchallenged, boy? The Valenti family controls the western docks and half the police commissioner’s office. You apologize to my daughter right now, or this night ends in fire."
A collective murmur of panic broke out among the civilian guests.
Luca didn't flinch. In fact, he chuckled—a cold, terrifying sound that made Vincente's guards hesitate.
Luca raised his left hand and snapped his fingers once.
Instantly, the ballroom’s massive overhead projector screen flickered to life. High-definition security footage began playing for the entire room to see.
It was the interior of the music room from the previous afternoon.
The video clearly showed Vivian lunging at Isabella, slapping the frail elderly woman across the face, dragging her by the hair, and forcing her inked thumb onto the legal document. The audio was crystal clear: Vivian’s sneering voice saying, *“Sign it, you old hag, or I'll put you in a nursing home where you'll rot!”*
Then, the footage showed Naomi breaking down the door, tackling Vivian away from Isabella, and shielding the elderly woman with her own body while Vivian ripped Naomi’s dress and scattered papers.
Gasps of horror and disgust erupted throughout the ballroom. Several city council members and judges turned away from Vincente in open revulsion.
Vivian turned ghost white, trembling violently. "No... that camera was disabled! I paid the technician!"
"You paid a technician who reports directly to me," Luca said smoothly. He walked forward until he was standing inches from Vincente. "Your daughter committed felony assault, extortion, and attempted fraud against the matriarch of the Moretti family. And your legal firm drafted the documents."
Vincente looked around in desperation, realizing every influential figure in the city was staring at him in condemnation. "Luca... this was a misunderstanding between women—"
*Crack!*
Luca’s fist moved with blinding speed, striking Vincente across the jaw. The older Don crashed heavily against a buffet table, shattering crystal punch bowls and cascading champagne across the marble floor.
Vincente’s guards drew their guns, but before they could raise their barrels, twenty Moretti enforcers, led by Luca’s right-hand lieutenant, Marco, surrounded them, pressing cold muzzles against their temples.
"Disarm them," Luca commanded without turning around.
The Valenti guards surrendered their weapons within seconds, hands held high.
Luca stepped over the puddle of champagne, grabbed Vincente by the lapels of his tuxedo, and hauled him off the floor like a sack of grain.
"Your docks are seized as of five minutes ago," Luca whispered into Vincente’s bleeding ear. "Your bank accounts have been frozen under federal injunctions I personally signed over to the FBI. You and your daughter are finished."
Luca shoved Vincente to the floor, where Vivian knelt beside her father, sobbing uncontrollably.
Luca turned his back on them and walked back to Naomi. He held out his hand. Naomi placed hers in his without a second of hesitation.
Luca turned toward the entire ballroom, raising his glass of champagne.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Luca announced, his voice commanding and clear across every corner of the room. "The Valenti engagement is null and void. From this day forward, Naomi Carter represents my household. Anyone who speaks against her, speaks against the Moretti bloodline. Anyone who touches her, answers to my gun."
May you like
He pulled Naomi to his chest and pressed his lips firmly against hers before the entire elite society of the city.
The ballroom exploded into thunderous applause and shocked whispers as Naomi melted into his embrace, realizing her life would never, ever be the same.
