Chapter 8
Luca’s gaze settled on them slowly.
The instant it did, a sharp sense of dread rose in his chest for no reason he could name.
He forced it down.
Then he said coolly, “Whatever gift you brought can wait until after the wedding.”
But before the last word had even fallen, Vivian had already recognized the men in the audience.
Her eyes lit up.
These were all heavyweights in their world.
Her heartbeat quickened, excitement flashing through her eyes.
In a sweet voice, she said, ‘Really? Thank you. What is it? Why not let me see it now?”
The eagerness in her voice was impossible to miss.
Luca’s brows immediately knitted as a deep, inexplicable irritation surged through him.
For years, he had protected her.
He hadn’t let her suffer.
He hadn’t let her get close to the filth of his world.
She didn’t know how these men had once crushed him, schemed against him, framed him.
She didn’t know how he had clawed his way out from under their attacks.
And now she was standing in front of him, smiling sweetly at the very people who had once been his
enemies.
That was no different from slapping him in the face.
Luca’s expression darkened.
And yet, before he could stop it, one face flashed through his mind: Rita.
If Rita had been here, she never would have done this.
She would have sensed the danger immediately and found a graceful way to get those men out.
She might even have already arranged everything before they got through the door.
She would never have allowed a scene like this to happen.
The thought hit him-and Luca suddenly went still.
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His chest tightened at once.
Why was he thinking of Rita?
Why was he comparing Vivian to her?
His face changed.
Then, in the next second, he forced that thought down.
Vivian was the one he had chosen to spoil.
She didn’t need to understand these ugly things.
He shouldn’t have been measuring her against that world in the first place.
Once he reached that conclusion, the cold indifference returned to his face.
If she wanted to see the gift then she could see it.
He said calmly, “If Vivian wants to look, then bring it out.”
His tone was easy, as if he didn’t take any of those people seriously at all.
Several of the men below exchanged glances, every one of them smiling knowingly.
Then one of them lifted his hand and clapped twice.
The lights in the hall went dark.
The giant LED screen behind the stage flared to life.
And the next second, a woman’s breathless, intimate moans echoed through the entire room without
warning.
The audience exploded into chaos.
A cold smile curled Luca’s lips. So what if it was on video?
At worst, it was footage of him and Vivian.
He didn’t care.
The woman he loved was Vivian.
If anything, it would only prove how close they were.
Still, he turned to look at the screen, and after a single glance, the color drained from his face.
Onscreen, Vivian was half-dressed and pinned beneath a man who was not Luca.
Luca’s pupils contracted violently.
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His entire body locked in place.
He recognized the man as a younger guy Vivian had known in school.
Vivian’s face went deathly pale.
She didn’t even have time to scream for someone to shut the screen off because the audio was already
coming through, sharp and clear.
The young man on the screen grinned and asked, “What if you get pregnant?”
Vivian laughed with open contempt. “That’d be perfect. I’d finally be able to use the pregnancy to push that
bitch Rita Conti out.”
Her voice dripped irritation.
“I’ve spent years failing to get pregnant. That’s the only reason I haven’t been able to force Don Moretti to
divorce her.’
“But this works too. I’ll borrow your sperm and use it to get my child.”
The young man grinned wider. ‘Then I guess I’m the impressive one.”
‘The most powerful mafia don in Manhattan is going to raise my kid for me.”
The room erupted.
Luca’s face turned ugly beyond words.
Vivian panicked completely.
She grabbed his hand, her whole voice shaking. “No, it’s fake! It’s all fake! It’s Al! Someone’s setting me up!”
But the men below burst out laughing.
‘Don, what a coincidence. We actually brought another gift too.”
‘It’s the paternity test for the baby Miss Clark is carrying.”
‘Oh, and one more thing, We were kind enough to bring the father along too.”
As the last word dropped, they lifted their hands.
The next moment, white sheets of paper went flying through the hall like snow.
And a man was dragged inside.
His face was pale as chalk.
Chapter 8
