Chapter 1 - Over the Fire
“Matteo! Save Luca!”
Elena’s scream ripped through the courtyard.
I turned—and saw my fourteen-month-old son in Carlo’s hands.
Held over the fire pit.
Luca was crying so hard he could barely breathe.
Elena clawed at Carlo’s arms, trying to reach him.
My brother smirked.
My mother, Viola, stood beside him in a burgundy gown as if this were entertainment at one of her parties.
I ran.
I ripped Luca from Carlo’s grip and shoved him safely into Elena’s arms.
“Take him inside.”
Viola stepped forward.
“We were teaching your wife a lesson in respect.”
I stared at her.
“You used my son?”
Carlo grabbed my shoulder.
Bad decision.
I tore free and punched him hard enough to send him crashing into a catering table.
Trays hit the floor.
Guests screamed.
Carlo staggered up and rushed me.
I drove a kick into his stomach.
He flew backward into a decorative screen.
Lanterns and branches collapsed around him.
I walked toward him.
“You held my son over the fire.”
Carlo looked up.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
“You’re finished.”
The courtyard went silent.
Then Viola laughed.
Softly.
Coldly.
“You think this is about Luca?”
I turned.
Elena was holding our son against her chest.
She looked terrified.
“What are you talking about?”
Viola lifted her wineglass.
“Ask your wife what she took from my study.”
Elena’s face changed.
Not guilt.
Fear.
I looked at her.
“Elena?”
She whispered:
“I found something.”
Viola’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
“A document.”
My mother stepped forward immediately.
“Give it to me.”
Elena tightened her hold on Luca.
“No.”
The guests stared.
Carlo struggled beneath the fallen screen.
Then Viola said something that chilled me more than the fire.
“That paper does not belong to you.”
Elena looked straight at me.
“It has Luca’s name on it.”
I stopped breathing.
My mother had just terrorized my son.
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And apparently, it had started because Elena found a document connecting him to something Viola desperately wanted hidden.
👉 Luca had been used as leverage—but the paper Elena found was about to turn a family feud into something much darker.
