Avery's POV
The sound of shattered glass still echoed in my ears and for a moment, I couldn't move. Tiny pieces spread across the floor, reflecting the faint light from outside. The broken window allowed the cold night air to seep into the room, bringing the distant sounds of water hitting softly against the stone walls of Venice.
But all I could hear was the pounding of my heart. My fingers trembled as I held the note.
Leave Venice. Or the next one won't miss.
The words blurred slightly as my vision filled with tears and panic. I felt Luca step closer beside me.
His presence was dangerous in a way that somehow made me feel both safer and more terrified at the same time. His dark eyes were fixed on the broken window, then on the street.
"You're not staying here tonight" he said.
The quiet authority in his voice left no room for argument.
"I wasn't planning to" I muttered weakly.
He didn't respond, instead, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. The line connected quickly.
"Marco," Luca said calmly but the shift in his tone told me everything, something serious had begun, "I need you now."
He ended the call before the other person could say much more.
I wrapped my arms around myself.
"Who's Marco?"
Luca turned toward me, for the first time since the brick had crashed through the window, his eyes softened slightly.
"He's someone I trust."
"How long will he take?"
"Not long."
We stood in silence after that. The wind came in through the broken window, lifting a few strands of my hair. The room suddenly felt too open, too vulnerable. I couldn't stop imagining someone standing somewhere in the darkness outside watching.
"You look like you've seen worse" I said quietly.
Luca didn't deny it, he walked towards the window and carefully stepped around the glass. His gaze scanned the street again.
"They wanted to scare you" he said.
"Well, congratulations to them," I replied, "It worked."
"That was the point."
I swallowed hard. "So what happens now?"
He looked at me and for the first time since this nightmare started tonight, I saw something flicker behind his calm control.
Anger.
"Now," he said slowly, "we find out who did this."
Before I could respond, footsteps echoed from the hallway. Luca didn't look surprised. The door opened a moment later and a man stepped inside, he looked exactly like the kind of person who would walk calmly into dangerous situations.
Marco D'Angelo. He was tall, broad-shouldered and looked older than Luca by at least twenty years, maybe more. His dark hair was painted with silver and faint wrinkle around his eyes suggested a lifetime of observation but what stood out the most was his presence.
He didn't give off arrogance or intimidation, instead, he carried experience. The kind that came from surviving things most people never even saw.
His eyes moved around the room quickly. From the broken window to the glass on the floor, the brick and then they landed on me.
He studied me quietly and thoroughly.
"You must be Avery" he said.
His voice was calm with the faint accent of someone who had spent his entire life in Italy.
"Yes" I replied.
"Marco D'Angelo." He gave a small nod. "I work with Luca."
The words sounded simple but the way Luca watched him told me the truth. Marco wasn't just someone who worked with Luca, he was someone Luca relied on.
Marco walked toward the broken window. He bent down, picking up the brick carefully and examined the note.
His expression barely changed.
"You're lucky" he said after a moment.
I blinked. "Lucky?"
"This was only a warning."
A chill ran down my spine.
"Only?"
Marco stood slowly. "If they wanted you dead, Miss Sullivan, they would have aimed better."
I glanced at Luca. He didn't look surprised by Marco's bluntness. He folded his arms and asked. "What do you think?"
Marco looked at the note again and glanced at the window.
"The throw came from across the canal."
"How do you know?"
Marco gave a faint smile. "Angle."
He walked to the window and gestured slightly. "If someone stood on the opposite bridge, the trajectory would match."
I stared at him. "You figured that out already?"
"I've been doing this a long time."
I wasn't sure what this meant but I was starting to get an idea. Marco handed the note back to Luca.
"This was meant to scare her."
"Yes" Luca said quietly.
Marco's eyes turned to me again. "You've been introduced to the Ramano family tonight."
"That's one way to put it."
His gaze darkened. "Then you should understand something important."
I waited.
"The Ramano name attracts enemies."
"What does that have to do with me?" I asked.
Marco's expression softened just slightly. "Because you're now connected to Luca."
"And that makes me a target" I said.
"Yes."
Luca stepped closer to us.
"The leak about Avery happened tonight."
Marco nodded. "I saw the headlines."
"How bad is it?" I asked quietly.
Marco hesitated for a moment. "Bad enough. They're calling you a gold digger and a mistress" he continued.
That wasn't comforting. I closed my eyes briefly.
Of course they were.
"That story didn't appear randomly" Luca said.
Marco nodded again. "Someone pushed it to the press."
"Gianna" I said.
"Or Nico" Luca added.
Marco considered that. "Both are possible."
I remembered the way Nico had looked at me earlier, his cold smile and warning. A shiver ran through me.
"What do they gain from this?" I asked.
"Control" Marco replied simply.
"Of what?"
"Of Luca."
I looked at Luca.
"They're trying to force you out" Marco explained.
"If Avery disappears from the picture, the engagement becomes stable again."
"So they scare me until I leave" I murmured.
"That would be the easiest solution."
"Maybe I should."
Luca turned toward me instantly. "No."
"It would solve everything" I argued.
"For them" he said.
"And for me" I added quietly.
"You should consider your safety," Marco said.
"I am."
"Then you shouldn't stay alone."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
Luca answered before Marco could. "You're not going back to your apartment tonight."
I blinked. "I live there."
"You won't tonight."
"Luca…"
"They already know where you live."
That was true and it silenced me. My apartment suddenly felt less like home and more like a trap.
"What are my options then?" I asked slowly.
Luca's expression hardened slightly. "You can stay at one of my properties."
"That sounds like a terrible idea."
Marco chuckled softly. "It might actually be the safest place in Venice."
"That's comforting" I muttered.
Luca stepped closer. "You could also have Marco's security team watch your apartment."
"Security team?" I repeated.
Marco raised an eyebrow. "You're surprised?"
"Yes."
"You shouldn't be."
Luca ran multiple companies, influential ones. Of course he would have security. Still, the idea of guards following me around made my stomach unsettled.
"I don't want to live like that."
"You might have to" Luca said quietly.
"Why?"
"Because they won't stop."
Before I could respond, Marco's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and his expression changed slightly.
"What is it?" Luca asked.
Marco turned the phone toward us. Another article had appeared online.
"American Student Seduces Billionaire Heir: Inside the Ramano Scandal."
I felt sick.
"They're getting bolder" Marco said calmly.
The article painted me as a manipulative outsider. A girl who had seduced Luca for money. Someone trying to infiltrate the Ramano empire.
I looked at Luca. His face had gone completely blank with that cold anger again.
"Enough" he said quietly.
Marco watched him carefully. "What do you want to do?"
Luca's eyes darkened. "They want a scandal."
"And?"
"We'll give them one."
My heart skipped. "What does that mean?"
He turned to me, the intensity of his gaze made me lose my train of thoughts immediately.
"It means," he said slowly, "I'm done pretending you don't exist."
My pulse raced. "What?"
Marco smiled faintly. "Now this will be interesting."
I stared at Luca. "You can't be serious."
"Oh, I'm serious."
His voice was calm.
"They've already started a war," he said quietly. "Now we fight back."
And at that very moment, I accepted that the night I had tried to surprise Luca had turned into something far bigger than heartbreak.
It had turned into a battle.
And somehow… I was standing right in the middle of it.