Chapter 6 - The Gala of Wolves
Elena wanted to leave.
Luca refused.
They argued for nine minutes.
Then Mia ended it.
“If bad people are coming,” she said, “why would we go outside?”
Elena stared at her daughter.
Luca leaned against the library shelves.
“Excellent question.”
“Do not encourage her.”
“She’s right.”
“She is three.”
“She continues outperforming my advisers.”
From the doorway, Julian said, “I’m beginning to find that personally insulting.”
Mia pointed at him.
“You’re still suspicious.”
Julian nodded gravely.
“Fair.”
The gala proceeded.
Canceling would warn Sebastian that they knew.
So Luca turned the mansion into a fortress disguised as champagne.
Security filled every corridor.
Guests arrived in black cars.
An orchestra played beneath chandeliers.
Women wore diamonds worth houses.
Men shook hands over secrets worth governments.
Elena did not work that evening.
Luca had ordered her to remain upstairs with Mia.
Elena ignored him within forty minutes.
He found her entering the ballroom in a dark green dress borrowed from Rosa’s niece.
For several seconds Luca forgot what he had intended to say.
Elena noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I’m assessing.”
“That sounds worse.”
Luca cleared his throat.
“You’re supposed to be upstairs.”
“And you’re supposed to identify a murderer.”
“I’m working on it.”
“From beside the champagne?”
“It’s called blending.”
“You look like you own the building.”
“I do.”
“Exactly.”
Luca almost smiled.
Then a man approached Elena.
Detective Theo Grant.
Former NYPD intelligence.
Now Luca’s private security consultant.
Handsome.
Relaxed.
Annoyingly comfortable around Elena.
“Elena.”
“Theo?”
They embraced.
Luca’s eyebrows moved.
Elena noticed.
Theo noticed too.
“Old friend,” Elena explained.
“I didn’t ask.”
“You’re thinking loudly.”
He disliked having his own phrase used against him.
Theo smiled.
“We grew up in Queens.”
“How charming.”
Elena tilted her head.
“Are you jealous?”
“No.”
Theo looked delighted.
“He is.”
Luca stared at him.
Theo stopped looking delighted.
From the balcony above, Mia whispered to Rosa, “Angry eyebrows.”
Rosa whispered, “Very angry.”
Then the lights went out.
The orchestra stopped.
Screams followed.
Luca grabbed Elena.
Security moved.
Emergency lights flashed red.
A voice came through the speakers.
Calm.
Older.
Amused.
“Hello, Luca.”
Luca froze.
He knew that voice.
Sebastian.
“Ten years,” the voice continued. “And you still host parties exactly like your father.”
Guests panicked.
Doors locked automatically.
Julian appeared beside Luca.
“That system isn’t ours.”
“Find Mia.”
Elena was already running.
Upstairs, Rosa reached Mia’s room.
Empty.
The balcony door stood open.
On the bed sat Captain Pickles.
And a black hawk ring.
Elena’s scream traveled down the corridor.
Luca reached her seconds later.
His eyes found the ring.
Something inside him became terrifyingly quiet.
“No.”
Security searched.
Cameras showed nothing.
Then Theo discovered a service-elevator recording.
A catering worker.
Carrying a laundry cart.
Inside the cart, a tiny polished shoe appeared for half a second.
Elena stopped breathing.
“He took her.”
Luca touched her face.
“I will find her.”
“If anything happens—”
“It won’t.”
“You cannot promise that.”
“I just did.”
Sebastian’s voice returned through the speakers.
“Library, Luca. Alone.”
Julian grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Luca removed his jacket.
“Elena stays with Theo.”
“I am not staying anywhere.”
Luca looked at her.
For once, she understood the expression.
Not authority.
Fear.
He was afraid for Mia.
“Please.”
That single word changed her answer.
Elena nodded.
Luca entered the library alone.
Sebastian stood near the fireplace.
Nine years after his supposed funeral, he looked older.
But very alive.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Walking cane.
A pleasant smile.
Beside him stood Mia.
She was eating a cookie.
Luca stopped.
Sebastian spread his hands.
“Relax. She demanded snacks.”
Mia waved.
“Hi.”
Luca nearly collapsed from relief.
“You’re okay?”
“Yes.”
She pointed at Sebastian.
“He lies.”
Sebastian’s smile tightened.
“I prefer ‘strategically edits.’”
Mia frowned.
“That means lying.”
Luca almost admired her timing.
“What do you want?”
Sebastian’s gaze sharpened.
“The empire.”
“You faked your death for ten years to ask for property?”
“No.”
His smile vanished.
“I waited ten years because your father stole it from me.”
Luca stared.
Sebastian tapped his cane.
“Antonio Valente was never supposed to lead the Hawk Circle.”
“Then who was?”
“Me.”
The library door opened.
Julian entered despite orders.
Sebastian smiled.
“Ah.”
Mia looked between them.
Then whispered, “Bird men.”
Julian drew a gun.
So did Luca.
But Julian’s weapon was pointed at Luca.
Elena, watching through the security feed downstairs, stopped breathing.
Luca stared at the man who had raised him through the worst decade of his life.
“Julian.”
Julian’s hand shook.
“I’m sorry.”
Sebastian smiled.
There it was.
The moment promised by every suspicion.
The trusted man behind Luca had finally stopped pretending.
“Put the weapon down,” Luca said.
“I can’t.”
Mia looked at Julian.
“Why are you sad?”
His face broke.
Just slightly.
And Luca understood something Sebastian did not.
Julian did not look like a traitor.
He looked like a hostage.
Luca lowered his gun.
Sebastian frowned.
“What are you doing?”
“Trusting the man who refused the throne.”
Julian’s eyes lifted.
Luca finally understood Mateo’s note.
Sebastian shouted, “Shoot him!”
Julian moved.
But not toward Luca.
He turned and fired into the ceiling.
Chaos exploded.
Mia dropped beneath the desk exactly as Luca had taught her that afternoon.
Luca attacked Sebastian.
Julian tackled the second gunman entering through the bookcase.
Security stormed inside.
Thirty violent seconds later, Sebastian was on the floor.
Alive.
Handcuffed.
Furious.
Mia emerged from beneath the desk.
She dusted off her dress.
Then looked at Luca.
“Your parties are bad.”
He laughed.
A helpless, breathless laugh.
And Elena ran into the room.
She dropped to her knees and crushed Mia against her chest.
Luca watched them.
For the first time in his life, victory felt less important than seeing two people safe.
Then Sebastian began laughing.
Everyone turned.
“You think this ends with me?”
Luca approached.
Sebastian looked at Elena.
“You still haven’t told him.”
Elena froze.
Luca noticed.
“Told me what?”
Sebastian smiled through blood.
May you like
“Ask her who Mia’s father really worked for.”
And Elena’s silence became the most frightening answer in the room.
