CHAPTER 104: FOR PEACE SAKE

"You keep ranting, and complaining. Are you not exhausted, Daniela?" Luciano walked into his room with the files he had stopped to pick up from his office, and Daniela followed him.

"You’re spending money on another woman, and you won’t explain it to me. So until you do, I won’t stop ranting!"

He came to an abrupt halt, and turned to her. "What other explanation do you want? You heard everything Elio said. She gets bad cramps from what her friend said. Am I supposed to just let her endure the pain?"

She laughed in disbelief. "Of course you are. You’re not captain of the save every woman committee. You’re my man. And if you’re even going to be spending money on another woman, I should give permission first."

"You’ve lost your mind." He pointed to her, shaking his head.

"Admit it, babe. There’s a part of you that feels something for her, isn’t there? You try to pretend like it’s duty, but duty to who? Why is she even still in Neravalle? She should have been gone if you’re not going to kill her to avenge your father!"

"You need to stop," he said in a surprisingly cool tone, and then turned away from her.

She walked towards him, not prepared to give him even a moment of peace. "And you need to stop caring about that whore. She has a fiancée now doesn’t she? Why is she not going to him? Why are you keeping another man’s woman in your home?"

"She is not Ross’s woman!" He roared thunderously, and Daniela jerked behind to shield herself from the storm that followed. "Don’t you dare mention that bastard’s name in my home. In case you don’t know, he plans on attacking Neravalle."

"Because you have Valentina. Why wouldn’t he?" The volume of her voice dropped significantly, but she didn’t completely back down.

Luciano took a deep breath to calm himself, before he spoke again.

He closed the gap between himself, and Daniela, and placed his hands gently on her shoulders.

"Valentina’s presence here is important for two reasons. First, Aurora and Vittorio think she can help clear my father’s name. That’s no concern of mine. Anyone can think whatever they want for all I care. But they both think she can. Secondly, there is an important project, the one I’ve been working on since forever. She is allegedly the only one with knowledge that can help unlock the mystery behind that project. If she leaves Neravalle, she’s free game for anyone. And I won’t let anyone get ahead of me in that project. Do you understand now?"

She looked into his eyes. They were very sincere.

"So you don’t want her here because she’s beautiful and you’re attracted to her?"

"God no! We’re getting married in what? Two weeks to three weeks? I have everything I want already." He pulled her in for a hug.

Luciano closed his eyes, as he felt Daniela’s body melting into his.

"I’m sorry for raising my voice. I just don’t like how Valentina has inserted herself into the minds of everyone in Neravalle. She’s like a hard drug. Quick to ingest her, difficult to expel the addiction she causes."

Luciano’s head spun at the description Daniela had given.

It wasn’t far from the truth. In fact, she was spot on.

Valentina left a mark in every single person she met, so much so that even in the moment where everything was supposed to be about him and Daniela, she was somehow still the main focus.

"Alright, I need to work now. Do you think you can give me some space?"

"Sure," she smiled. "I have to go find Aurora anyway. By babe!" She waved goodbye as she hurried out of the room.

Luciano was exhaling deeply when his phone rang.

His eyes went to the table where the device laid.

"What now?" He thought as he walked over to it.

"Luce?" Giovanni spoke on the other end of the line when he answered.

"I was going to call you later in the day. You just left. Is there a reason why?"

"There actually is. I got intel that Lorenzo is planning something filthy. I’m not sure what it is yet, but I just wanted to warn you."

"Any evidence?" his brow furrowed.

"A closed door meeting with the president in the early hours of the morning."

"So shortly after leaving Aurivilla?"

"Exactly. If the president aligns with whatever his proposal is, it’s going to be harder to continue with your push for the end of sex trafficking."

"The president wouldn’t dare," he said confidently.

"You have the money, Luce. But remember, there are hierarchies of importance, and despite all you’ve achieved, yours is still tainted by how your father’s life ended. If only there was a way to correct that narrative, because trust me, that is exactly what Lorenzo will bank on. And now with the resources from Ross Voltron, we’re about to have a very big problem."

"Shit!" He ran a hand through his hair, as the optics of things began to grow clearer in his mind.

"I’ll get back to you, man. Thanks for the intel."

"Anytime. Oh, and before you leave. I might drop by in Neravalle in about four days’ time. Helena made mention of something that has been on my mind since last night. A claim, made by a girl."

"A claim made by a girl?"

"About being my daughter. I mean I don’t have any children except Daniela who I adopted when I married her mother."

Luciano exhaled. "I think she’s talking about the same thing I told you to ask when we had that conversation."

"But I didn’t need to ask. Whatever happened some twenty something years ago, the parties were very clear about me not being involved in any way. And then around the time of the great abduction of Bianca Barone, I heard the offspring in question died."

With every word Giovanni said, a part of Luciano’s face scrunched in confusion. Soon, his entire face was contorted.

"You don’t understand a word of what I’ve just said, do you?"

"Not at all." He shook his head.

"Fine– when I come around, we’ll discuss it. I’d like to meet this girl too, so I can prove she’s just a liar."

The call dropped, and so did Luciano’s face.

"A liar? Why would Natalia lie about being Giovanni’s daughter?" He questioned himself.

Luciano was in over his head with all of the news he had to digest, when he got a text from Chris.

"In front of your door. Open up. We need to talk."