Frame up
Luca's POV
The second the bodyguard whispered into my ear, the world around me dimmed.
It wasn't something dangerous or bloody... It was work.
Of all the times for something to go wrong, it had to be now... when she was looking at me like that, when her heartbeat was steadying under my presence, when I had just touched her fucking neck and called her beautiful.
When I was so close to her... Enjoying the company of such a wonderful woman.
“It’s the dock warehouse, sir,” the bodyguard murmured. “The south entrance was forced open. We think someone tampered with the shipment crates. Carlo wants you there immediately.”
A breath left me sharply.
Of course.
The one day I leave early and try to pretend I have a normal life for a single goddamn hour, chaos follows.
I nodded once. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
The guard hurried off.
I turned back to Aria.
She looked confused. Worried. A little breathless from everything that had just happened.
I shouldn’t have cared how she felt. She wasn’t supposed to get under my skin like this. But she did. Fuck, she did.
“I have to go,” I told her softly. “It’s urgent. But I’ll be back.”
I didn’t wait for her to respond.
Because if I did… if she said something I wanted to hear, I wouldn’t leave.
Something told me she was going to push me away anyways.
I didn't want to leave her. I felt it would be unwise to.
She was my captive, and she desired freedom just like any other person in captivity. Leaving her alone... On her own was stupid.
But a part of me trusted her. I wanted her to know that I did.
Also I didn't come out with much guards, so I couldn't keep her watched at every corner.
I was going to find her whereever she went anyways. But it would be nice if she didn't go. If she didn't wish for her freedom and just chose to stay with me.
...
By the time I got to the car, I had to push all the thoughts of Aria aside to focus on the problem at hand.
It wouldn't help if I was emotional.
“Drive,” I ordered the moment I got in.
The driver slammed the door and pulled out of the mall’s private section, speeding onto the road.
As the city blurred by outside, I replayed Aria’s expression again... I couldn't help it.
The necklace around her throat.
How her fingers shook when she touched it.
The way she whispered 'It’s beautiful,' like she meant it... She did, and it was, but I found her more appealing.
My woman.
I’d said that without thinking.
No regret.
No hesitation.
It was the truth, and everyone in that store felt it.
I exhaled slowly and forcefully pushed the thoughts away.
Focus Luca. I muttered to myself.
Shipment.
Warehouse.
My organization comes first.
Always has.
Always should.
I couldn't let myself feel weak just because of a lady. Even if that lady was Aria. It would only prove Viola right. That she had become my weakness... Which wasn't true.
The dock warehouse was lit up like a crime scene when we arrived. Men everywhere. Angry and muffled voices. The metallic smell of saltwater mixing with diesel fumes. Lit torch lights even though it was still morning.
Carlo met me at the gate, his expression tight.
“Boss,” he greeted. “You need to see this.”
“What happened?” I stepped out, straightening my jacket.
Carlo swallowed. “Someone pried open the south entrance door. Didn’t trigger the alarms. They knew exactly where the wiring was.”
My jaw clenched. “Inside job?”
“We’re checking. But whoever it was… they targeted your shipment specifically.”
We walked inside.
The main warehouse lights flickered on as soon as I stepped in. Stacks of crates lined the walls, each one marked with coding only a handful of trusted men could decipher.
The problem was obvious.
One stack had been pulled apart.
Three crates broken open.
The contents inside...empty.
The shipment wasn’t drugs.
Not guns.
Not anything people typically assumed I dealt with.
It was medical-grade ketamine.
A tranquilizer used for controlled sedation in some of our… less public operations.
If the wrong hands got it?
Disaster.
I crouched in front of the pried-open crates, fingers brushing the wood splinters.
No hesitation.
Clean pry marks.
Professional.
This wasn’t petty theft.
This was coordinated.
“This isn’t Matteo,” I said quietly. “He doesn’t operate on my docks. And he wouldn’t waste men on stealing drugs he has no use for.”
Matteo was a sworn enemy of mine who had refused to back down even after I inherited my grandfather's position as the head of the syndicate.
But even he wouldn't be so something as reckless as stealing from me. Not openly like this.
Carlo nodded grimly. “I thought the same.”
“So who the fuck was it?” I asked my gaze still on the crates.
They were pried open skillfully... But something told me that the contents inside wasn't what whoever had done this was after.
Although it was dangerous, it wasn't something just anyone would be after.
So what did they truly want?
My attention?
Well whoever it was had gotten it.
Carlo shifted uneasily. “We found footprints leading toward the loading ramp. Boot size nine... too small to be any of our men.”
“And cameras?”
“Blacked out. Someone used a pulse jammer.”
A cold calmness washed over me.
Someone, somewhere, was playing games.
Everything seemed so intentional. Yet, it felt strange at the same time.
This wasn't the first time something of mine had been stolen... But this was the first time I felt like it was only stolen because the person was here.
Not because it was the target.
“Bring me every guard scheduled here in the last twenty-four hours,” I ordered standing up and straightening my jacket. “Every porter, every delivery boy, every subcontracted idiot. I want prints, alibis, and I want them now.”
Carlo gestured to the men to start.
I stood slowly, hands slipping into my pockets.
On the outside, I looked calm.
On the inside? I was brewing.
Something felt off about this theft. Something told me I wasn't supposed to be here.
It was this feeling I couldn't shake off.
Instinct.
And my instinct was never wrong.
“Boss,” Carlo called out again. “There’s more.”
Of course there was.