Page 58 of Sexted By a Stranger
My hands trembled as I placed them over my still-flat stomach. There, a tiny, beating heart.
Luca. I had to tell him immediately. Such a powerful man—would he be ecstatic to know about the baby?
Enormous joy wrapped around me like sweet syrup, temporarily coating all my previous anxieties. I didn't even bother wiping away my tears, grabbing that life-announcing pregnancy test and rushing out.
The hallway carpet muffled all footsteps. I hurried toward Luca's study at the other end, eventually breaking into a near run.
The study door was slightly ajar, warm light spilling out. I could picture him sitting behind that massive desk, frowning over documents.
It didn't matter. This time I'd interrupt him to share this explosive news.
Just as I reached for the door handle—
"…Ragnar, once we get Polaris, ship it to the East Coast immediately. Bravati's people are getting impatient." Luca's ice-cold voice drifted through the gap, and my outstretched hand froze inches from the handle.
"Yes, Boss."
"What about Connor?" Luca asked.
"He's pushing cheap drugs into the South Side, trying to muscle in on the turf," Lennox cut in. "Oh, and we grabbed a weapons shipment—Mexico to Montreal. Same guns as the ones at the docks last month." He tapped his tablet. "Malkovich's playing for Connor's team now. Even the Direwolves are showing their faces. They're all buddy-buddy."
"Should we up Stella's security? Maybe move her somewhere quiet for a bit?"
"No." Luca didn't blink. "She stays put. Right here with me." He nodded at the city map. "Tell the crew bosses: squeeze our defenses tighter. And when things heat up..." A thin smile touched his lips. "...leave a back door open. I want Connor to walk right into the trap—so we can rip him out by the roots."
"Bratva," "Connor," "drugs"… These words I'd vaguely heard before were like scattered puzzle pieces, finally coming together at this moment.
It was like thunder exploding in my brain.
Connor, who Luca had easily intimidated at the club; Ragnar and Lennox, those ruthless but obedient assistants; hismysterious "business"; the omnipresent bodyguards and tight security; the vicious gunshot wound on his shoulder and the lethal techniques he'd personally taught me…
The truth was brutally suffocating.
Luca Bellomo wasn't an ordinary businessman or mysterious mogul. He was a mafia boss controlling blood-soaked enterprises—arms dealing, drugs, and gambling.
The pregnancy test in my hand, those two glaring red lines, burned my palm with searing pain.
I wasn't just caught in this whirlpool—I was carrying the heir to this dark empire in my womb.
Massive shock crashed over me like a tsunami, followed by the expected, deathly calm.
I had already glimpsed the edge of the abyss. I was the one who chose to close my eyes and drown in that seductive tenderness.
I stared at that slightly open door. I loved the man inside, yearned to spend my life with him, but his world had no place for innocence. Between the ordinary life I wanted and him lay an unbridgeable chasm of blood.
I withdrew my frozen hand from mid-air, turned around, and walked away from that suffocating shadow.
I needed to think carefully about what to do next.
Chapter 19
Sheila
"Focus, Sheila," I whispered to myself. "Just act like nothing happened."
The pencil scratched across paper, but the lines came out crooked and shaky. I bit down hard, erasing the messy marks before starting over.
But yesterday's conversation kept echoing in my ears, constantly reminding me that Luca was a mob boss. The man who gently called me "stellina," who made me mint tea—he controlled an underground empire drenched in blood and violence.
