The Mafia Boss’s Baby Had Been Crying for Hours—Then He Saw Me, Reached Out His Tiny Arms, and His Father Went Pale at My Name Tag / Chapter 5 / 100

Chapter 5 - A Devil in a Bespoke Suit

The contract on the mahogany desk of Moretti Enterprises was thicker than a telephone directory.

We were on the forty-second floor of a glass skyscraper overlooking the Delaware River. Below us, cargo ships bearing the Moretti crest cut through the murky gray water like predators through a swamp.

Luca’s attorney, a razor-sharp woman named Evelyn Vance who looked like she chewed nails for breakfast, slid a Montblanc pen across the polished glass table toward me.

"Clause twelve outlines the financial compensation," Evelyn said without an ounce of warmth. "Upon signing, five million dollars will be transferred into an offshore trust in your name. If the marriage remains intact for three hundred and sixty-five days, an additional ten million will be disbursed, along with full ownership of a residential property of your choosing outside the tri-state area."

Five million dollars. Ten million.

The numbers were so astronomical they ceased to feel like money; they felt like monopoly digits, abstract and dangerous.

"And what am I giving up?" I asked, keeping my hands flat on the desk, refusing to touch the pen.

Luca was standing by the panoramic window, his back to me, an unlit cigar held between his fingers. He didn't turn around when he spoke.

"Your freedom," Luca said bluntly. "You will live under my roof. You will be escorted by armed security wherever you go. You will play the devoted wife at charity galas, syndicate dinners, and courtroom hearings. You will be Leo’s mother in every legal, social, and physical capacity."

"And in private?" I challenged, my chin lifting. "What happens behind closed doors, Mr. Moretti?"

Luca turned slowly. The morning light caught the brutal angles of his face, the pale line of the scar cutting through his stubble. His eyes were dark, unreadable, and intensely possessive.

"I am a monster, Avery," he said, his voice dropping into that low, dangerous register that made the hair on my arms stand up. "I kill men who betray me. I take what belongs to me by force. But I do not force myself on women. You will have your own wing in the estate. We share a bed only when the court-appointed social worker conducts surprise inspections. Otherwise, our marriage is strictly business."

"And if Dante Vanezzy finds out this is a sham?"

"He won't," Luca said, taking two long, measured strides toward the table. He braced both hands on the glass, leaning down until his eyes were level with mine. "Because by Friday, the entire city will believe that I am completely, utterly, and dangerously obsessed with you."

The air between us snapped with static.

I looked down at the contract.

Just twenty-four hours ago, I was crying in the breakroom of a restaurant because my car's alternator had died and I couldn't afford groceries. My brother, Sam, was in his second year of college at Penn State, drowning in student loans, skipping meals to pay for textbooks.

With the stroke of a pen, Sam would be safe forever. My debts would vanish.

And Leo...

I thought of the little boy currently sleeping in the adjacent executive lounge under Marco’s watchful eye, his tiny fingers clinging to the cashmere blanket that still smelled like me. If I walked away, Dante Vanezzy would take him. A man who dealt poison and sent hit squads to nurseries would raise that innocent child to be a weapon.

I picked up the heavy gold pen.

"Three conditions," I said, my voice steadying.

Luca raised an eyebrow. Evelyn gasped in outrage, but Luca held up a single finger, silencing his lawyer without taking his eyes off me.

"Name them," he said.

"First, full tuition, housing, and an unlimited trust for my brother Sam, guaranteed immediately, regardless of what happens to me."

"Done," Luca said without hesitation.

"Second, you do not kill anyone in front of Leo again. Ever. He has seen enough blood for ten lifetimes."

Luca’s jaw ticked, but he nodded slowly. "Agreed. And third?"

I met his piercing gray gaze, refusing to flinch. "You treat me like an equal. I am not your servant, I am not your subordinate, and I am not a piece of cargo you move through the docks. If I am going to play the Queen of the Moretti family, you will treat me with respect."

A slow, wicked smile spread across Luca’s lips—the first genuine smile I had ever seen on his face. It transformed him from a cold executioner into something far more dangerous: a man of devastating charm.

"Little bird," he whispered, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

I pressed the nib to the parchment and signed my name.

*Avery Campbell.*

Evelyn immediately notarized the document with a heavy mechanical stamp, sliding the duplicate into a leather folder.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Moretti," Evelyn said smoothly. "Now comes the hard part. The annual Columbus Day Gala is tomorrow night at the Union League. Dante Vanezzy will be there with his entire caporegime. The press will be there. The District Attorney will be there."

Evelyn looked at my thrift-store sneakers and oversized sweater with open skepticism.