Chapter 57: Luca

Third POV

Lying on the leather sofa in his room, Marco laid his hands behind his head, closing his eyes as he tried to catch a quick nap. The night had been a forced blur of family duties and unwanted introductions, leaving a dull ache behind his temples.

Just as he lightly drifted off, the door clicked open.

Marco furrowed his brow and glanced coldly toward the entrance.

"Hey, love," a sweetly measured, overly polished voice filled the room.

Luca stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

Marco instantly looked away, staring up at the ceiling as if the intruder were entirely irrelevant. "I told you my room is off-limits, Luca. Get out."

Instead of doing as told, the slightly shorter man strolled deeper into the space and squatted right in front of Marco, bringing himself eye-to-eye with him.

"But your father was the one who asked me to come over," Luca said softly, a too fake smile playing on his lips. "You wouldn’t want to anger him, would you?"

Luca reached his hand out, aiming his fingers toward Marco’s face.

Before he could make contact, Marco caught his wrist in a tight grip and shoved it back.

The sudden force caught Luca off guard. He gasped in dramatic accusation as he landed flat on his butt against the carpet.

"Ouch! That actually hurts, babe."

Marco shut his eyes, taking a slow breath as he completely ignored the complaint and tried to block out the man’s presence.

Undeterred, Luca pulled himself up and rested his arms against the sofa near Marco’s feet. "Babe, I was thinking... how about we go on a date tomorrow? We haven’t hung out together in a while."

Marco said nothing, keeping his posture stiff.

"I came across this new high-end restaurant downtown, and their meals are awesome. Do you want to try it with me?" Luca continued, his pleasant smile never fading.

On the other hand, Marco was already drifting back toward sleep, letting the chatter turn to background noise.

"If that doesn’t interest you, we can go clubbing instead. Your father told me it used to be your favorite thing. What do you think?"

By this time, Marco was already far gone into dreamland, leaving the man speaking to an unmoving wall. Even after realizing Marco was completely asleep, Luca continued talking endlessly into the quiet room.

Talking of clinically insane, this one was on another level.

***

The following morning, Marco, Edoardo, and Luca were seated at the long dining table, eating their breakfast in quiet tension.

Except it did not stay quiet for long.

"Uncle, I was thinking of going out with Marco today," Luca announced, setting his cup down delicately.

Edoardo glanced over at Marco, who was far too occupied scrolling through his phone to pay any attention to whatever conversation was happening around him.

"If that’s what you want," Edoardo said, his authoritative voice cutting through the room. "Marco, be nice to Luca today."

Marco remained entirely unresponsive. His total indifference eventually forced the two to drop the matter and leave him alone.

After scrolling through his phone for a few more quiet minutes, Marco placed it in his pocket, pulled back his chair, and stood up.

"I’m going to see Elia."

He turned away to leave, but a loud, sharp bang on the dining table stopped him in his tracks.

Edoardo had slammed his palm flat against the wood. "You are going out with Luca today. Did you not hear?"

Marco’s expression remained icy. As he turned around to face his father, that cold indifference shifted into open rebellion.

"You can stop me from doing anything else," he uttered, his voice dropping low and dangerous. "But not from seeing him."

Despite Edoardo calling his name out several times in rising anger, Marco turned on his heel and walked straight out of the mansion.

He walked around the massive estate for a short while, heading toward another house located at the far rear of the property, a much smaller, secluded building set completely apart from the main quarters.

Outside the entrance stood four heavily armed bodyguards, their faces stoic and their hands resting near their holstered weapons. ℯℯ𝑙.

Once Marco drew near, one of the guards stepped forward and unlocked the door. Marco walked straight inside without uttering a single word.

The interior of the house was well-lit by modern fixtures, but not a single beam of natural daylight could penetrate the structure. There were no windows anywhere, only high, heavily reinforced vents designed to keep the air circulating securely.

At the center of the main room, seated at a small wooden dining table, was Elia, currently being served breakfast by a servant.

Marco walked over and sat down opposite Elia. His brother briefly glanced up at him, met his gaze for a second, and then quietly continued eating his meal.

Not a single word was exchanged between them. Marco just sat there in silence, watching over him until Elia was completely done with his food.

No words passed between them even when Elia stood up, turned away, and walked into the single private bedroom at the back of the house.

Marco was left sitting there alone at the table.

The servant came over and began cleaning up the dirty plates and utensils. Marco still sat there in complete silence, lost in thought.

He only stood up and left after about half an hour of sitting in the heavy stillness.

Meanwhile, the servant- who happened to be Fabio in disguise, was seething with rage inside the small adjacent kitchen. He scrubbed the dishes with furious intensity, his heart pounding in his chest. But as he glanced sideways at the security cameras installed in every single corner of the room, Fabio dared not make any sudden or suspicious movements. He kept his head bowed, suppressing the burning urge to step out, drop the mask, and reveal himself.

"I’m going to go completely mad one of these days," Fabio murmured under his breath as he resumed clumsily washing the cups and plates, struggling to keep his temper under control.