Chapter 68: Set up

Lucia’s POV

The day starts like it always does when Dante has work outside the estate.

There are people moving in and out of the house before the sun fully settles into the sky. Documents. Calls. Security checks. Voices that never rise above control.

Dante calls it business. The world calls it Vitale Holdings.

A company empire that stretches across industries—logistics, real estate, private security, nightlife. Clean names. Clean buildings. Clean money.

At least on paper. To everyone outside, Dante Vitale is a businessman.

A respected one at that. He was revered. By people who loved him and even the ones who wanted to be him.

Only a few people know what exists underneath that version of him. And I am starting to learn I might be one of them.

“Today is only a brief stop at the main office,” Giovanni says as I step into the car.

He is already reviewing files on his tablet, calm like nothing in Dante’s world ever surprises him anymore.

Alex and Enzo sit in front. Alert, as always. Dante sits beside me in the back. He hasn’t spoken much this morning. Not because he is distant. Because he is already somewhere else mentally.

I notice that now. Dante doesn’t prepare for days like this.

He enters them.

“Sign-offs for expansion and logistics restructuring,” Giovanni continues. “Nothing that should take long.”

Nothing in Dante’s world is ever truly “nothing.”

I look at Dante. He is watching the city pass by the window.

Calm and composed. Like the world cannot touch him.

But I know better now. It always tries.

“We’ll be back before evening,” Giovanni adds.

Dante finally speaks. “She’s coming in.”

His voice is flat, leaving no room for argument. I shift slightly.

“I don’t need to—”

“You do,” he interrupts without looking at me.

The car continues through traffic until the city begins to change.

Tall glass buildings replace residential streets. Vitale Holdings rises ahead of us like a declaration.

The building is massive. Steel and glass layered into something that looks untouchable.

People move quickly as we arrive. Employees lower their gaze the moment Dante steps out.

No fear. Recognition.

We move inside. The atmosphere shifts immediately.

Everything here listens. We enter the main conference floor. A large meeting is already in progress—executives, security heads, logistics managers.

Dante takes the head position without hesitation.

Giovanni begins speaking. Alex and Enzo position themselves behind.

I sit beside Dante, observing. Trying to understand where the businessman ends and something else begins.

Minutes pass. Papers are exchanged. Plans are discussed.

And then it starts.

A sound outside. Dante pauses mid-sentence.

I notice instantly. Then another sound follows.

Closer. Louder. A crack of something breaking into reality.

A glass panel somewhere in the building vibrates faintly. A shout cuts through the corridor outside.

Then—

Everything changes at once.

“Down!” Alex snaps. The room erupts. People drop to the floor. Tables shift. Chairs scrape violently against the floor.

Dante is already moving.

His hand is on my shoulder instantly, pushing me down behind the table.

“Stay here,” he says. No panic. Just instruction.

Another shot echoes outside. Then another. Each shot is targeted precisely. But something felt wrong.

Enzo is already at the door, weapon drawn. Alex moves to the opposite side. Giovanni is scanning the room, face tight.

“This is coordinated,” he mutters.

Dante doesn’t respond immediately. He is listening.

Not just to the noise. To the pattern behind it.

Then he exhales once.

“Trap,” he says quietly.

My stomach tightens. Before I can ask what he means—

Sirens pierce through the air. Too close.

“No…” I whisper.

Because sirens don’t arrive like that unless they were already close. Already waiting.

The doors at the far end of the floor burst open.

Police. Their weapons are drawn. Moving in formation. Arriving with purpose.

My breath catches. That shouldn’t be possible. Not this fast. Not during chaos.

A voice cuts through the room.

“Dante Vitale!” Everything stops.

Even the gunfire outside feels distant now.

The officer steps forward. “We have a warrant for your arrest.”

Silence drops instantly.

Giovanni turns sharply. Alex stiffens.

Enzo’s grip tightens on his weapon.

But Dante— Dante slowly straightens. “And what exactly is the charge?” he asks calmly.

The officer doesn’t hesitate. “Illegal discharge of firearms. Unlicensed weapon usage. Criminal association during public disturbance.”

My breath catches. Because that is not what happened. Not what I saw. Not what anyone saw.

Dante tilts his head slightly. Like he is listening to something predictable.

Then— the truth unfolds in real time. Because I remember the first shot came from outside. Not from us.

The attack came first. We only reacted.

Dante turns slightly toward me. Just enough that I feel it.

“Stay with Giovanni,” he says.

My chest tightens immediately.

“No—”

But he is already moving. Stepping forward into the space between the officers and us.

The chaos outside continues faintly. Still unresolved.

But this— this is now something else. The officer raises his voice.

“Step away from the weapon.”

Dante’s gaze drops slightly to the gun in his hand. Still lowered.

Then he looks back up. “I responded to active gunfire targeting my people,” he says evenly.

The officer doesn’t flinch. “That will be reviewed.”

That word lands heavier than anything else. Reviewed.

"Reviewed? Are you joking?" I stand to my feet because at this point my anger is rising.

"You," I point to the policeman standing in front of Dante. "You clearly heard them shooting at us. Do you mind telling me why you haven't apprehended the threat?"

The man looks like he didn't practice that part of his stupid speech. "How are you doing everything but your job? I would like to see your badge, please."

Because suddenly I understand this was never about the attack. It was about the response. And all of it suddenly became clear to me.

Dante exhales slowly. Like, he has seen this possibility before.

Then he turns his head slightly toward me again.

Our eyes meet.

“I will speak with my wife,” he says to the officers, daring any of them to stop him.

For a second, the chaos fades. Only his voice remains. Then he walks up to me.

“Don’t argue with anyone,” he says quietly. “I will be back before tomorrow morning. But if this is exactly what it looks like, then in a few days.

My throat tightens. He continues. “Don’t explain anything.”

He pauses. Then softer:

“Stay alive.”

And before I can respond—

They take him. Hands on his arms. Dante doesn’t fight them immediately.

Not because he cannot. Because he is deciding something.

And I realize too late that this was not just an attack. It was a removal strategy.

Casteelo didn’t just want chaos. He wanted Dante contained in public view.

The doors close behind him as he is taken out.

And the sound of it feels louder than the gunfire ever was. For a moment, nobody moves.

Not because there is nothing to do. But because everything is suddenly too much to process at once.

The gunfire outside still echoes faintly through the building, but it feels distant now—like it belongs to a different version of the day.

This one is already broken.

Giovanni is the first to move.

“Lock down the floor,” he says sharply, stepping forward and taking control without hesitation. “No one leaves this building until we confirm what the hell just happened.”

His voice is calm. But tight.

Controlled in a way that means it is not calm at all. Alex is already speaking into his earpiece.

“Perimeter team, report status. Now.”

Enzo lowers his weapon slowly, scanning the room like he is counting threats that are no longer visible.

I am still standing in the same place Dante left me.

Giovanni turns toward me. His expression has changed.

Not softer. Just more aware.

“Lucia,” he says carefully, “we need to move.”

My throat feels dry. “They took him,” I say.

It’s not a question. It’s not even a shock anymore. Just confirmation of something that feels unreal.

Giovanni nods once.

“Yes.”

That is all he gives me. Because there is no room for anything else right now.

Alex returns from the corridor. “The shooters are gone,” he says. “No bodies. No confirmation. Whoever they were—they weren’t meant to be traced.”

Enzo mutters under his breath. “Set up.”

Giovanni exhales slowly through his nose. “Of course it is.”

He turns back to the room full of shaken executives. And for the first time, I see it clearly:

Dante is gone, but the structure he built is still standing.

And it is being held together by people who now have to act like nothing is collapsing.

Giovanni raises his voice. “This meeting is over. Everyone returns to their departments. No speculation, no leaks. If I hear one wrong version of this event leave this building, I will personally make sure you regret it.”

No one argues. They leave quickly. Too quickly.

Because fear moves faster than order now. When the room finally clears, Giovanni looks at Alex and Enzo.

“We go back,” he says.

Alex nods immediately. Enzo doesn’t speak. He just moves.

Then Giovanni looks at me.

“You’re coming with us.”

I don’t argue. There is no space in me for it.

The house feels different the moment we enter. Rita appears first. She takes one look at us and already understands something is wrong.

“Where is he?” she asks immediately.

Giovanni answers before I can. “Detained.”

The word lands like a crack. Rita’s hand tightens on the counter behind her.

“For how long?”

Alex answers this time. “We don’t know yet.”

That is when silence becomes unbearable. Because uncertainty is worse than fear. At least fear has shape.

Giovanni steps further inside. “We need to control what information leaves this house,” he says.

“No one speaks to the press. No one confirms anything. If anyone asks, Dante is handling a legal matter and will return shortly.”

Rita laughs once. Unbelieving. “That’s your plan?”

Giovanni’s gaze sharpens. “It’s the only one we have right now.”

She goes quiet immediately. Because she understands what he doesn’t say:

There is no real control anymore. Not yet.