Chapter 2: scars and shadows

Emilia

*Five years earlier*

The last time she saw her sister, they were in a hospital corridor—fluorescent lights buzzing, blood under her nails, their father in a body bag down the hall.

“You did this,” her sister whispered.

“No,” she’d said. “They did.”

But the damage was done.

They had the same face, same green eyes, same wicked smirk when they wanted something. But the world had always treated them differently. Isadora had became a shadow, trained, molded by the same organization that let their father die in silence. She ran away, changed her name, and buried the past, she told her it was better they lived separate lives, she kissed her on the cheeks and left. And yet… she still looked just like her.

Present Day – Rome

Four years. That’s how long he’d been chasing a ghost—a girl with no name who’d stolen from him and vanished. Luca, the most feared name in the underworld, had torn cities apart looking for her. He wondered why he thought about her again, today, after so long, but as he made his way downstairs, Marco was already in the car waiting to fill him in on the client they were about to go meet.

Luca moved through the museum gala like a predator through velvet. He wasn’t smiling. Not tonight. Not after Nice. Not after finding nothing but silence and firewalls.

Then he saw her.

Green eyes. Black dress. That same feline posture—back straight, chin tilted, like she *dared* someone to look away first.

She was standing near the Bernini exhibit, wine glass in hand, talking to an art director like she had every right to be there. She’d never liked the darkness of museums, the way shadows lingered in corners like secrets waiting to be uncovered. She was used to it, sure. But it was never comfortable.

Luca didn’t think. Didn’t breathe. He crossed the room in seconds and gripped her arm—firm, but not enough to bruise.

“You have nerve,” he growled.

She turned. Confusion flickered in her eyes. “Excuse me?”

“You stole from me. Kissed me. Lied to my face.” His voice was low. Controlled. Dangerous. “And now you're pretending you don't know me?”

She stared at him. “Sir, I have no idea who you think I am—”

He laughed, bitter. “You’re not going to fool me again.”

But something was off. The fear in her eyes wasn’t calculated—it was real.

“I’m Emilia,” she said slowly. “Emilia Moretti. I don’t know you, and I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

“now you tell me your name?” he laughed with so much darkness and evil. Their conversation was interrupted when Liam, Emilia’s boyfriend approached them, and she freed herself from his grip

“What’s happening here?….. Mr Rossi may I ask if there’s an issue.” 

“Mr Rossi?” Emilia was surprised, he was the collector and business partner Liam had mentioned would be meeting tonight. 

“We were just airing our different views about what the painting meant to us, he’s all yours now babe” she said, as Luca remained quiet and stared at her before reaching for his phone in his pocket

“Marco, l’ho trovata” he said as he walked away with Liam.

It was almost midnight now, Emilia sat at the reception waiting, she was yet to see Mr Rossi or Liam. He wasn’t taking her calls, all she was left with was a handsome man, thick dark hair and Burberry shades who kept following her around. 

As she sat there her mind replayed the whole encounter with Mr Rossi earlier, “you stole from me, kissed me and lied to me” she couldn’t help but wonder why he was so sure she was the one, and then it dawned on her, he must have met ‘Isa’, a sad feeling crept under her skin as she remembered that the last time she saw her sister was five years ago. She didn’t know what color her hair was now, if she was dating, what or where she was working and if she was safe, the only form of communication she had with her sister was the birthday cards she gets on their birthday every year which she eventually discovered that Isa had paid the shop in advance for seven years. 

Then again her mind drifted…… “she stole from me, lied to me”. If she didn’t know her sister at all, she knew Isa was no thief, or liar, the kissing part she wasn’t surprised, Isa was very much promiscuous when it came to men, and sometimes women, she was crazy and free like that, but the for the lying and stealing, she was certain it wasn’t her sister.

“Get up we’re leaving” Emilia blinked at least 70 times before realized it was her Mr Rossi was speaking too

“Am I your dog? or you’re just mad ass disrespectful?” you could hear the irritation and annoyance in her voice 

“Darling girl, you need to go with him” as the words rolled out of Liam’s tongue, fear hit her heart, she knew Mr Rossi was a mafia don, but what she didn’t understand was why she needed to follow him. Her next plan was to run as quick as her legs could take her, but before she got to the door he grabbed her, put her over his shoulder and took her to the car—the last thing she remembered  doing was slapping him.

“Wakey wakey Ladra” the clicking of his fingers snapped her back to reality.

“Get me out of here now you crazy bastard” Emilia screamed from the chair she was tied too.

“Where’s the flash drive ladra?, who did you deliver it to?”

“What flash drive?? you definitely are mistaking me for someone else” she let out a mocking laughter before trying to free her hands from the rope that kept her to the chair.

“you come to into my house, seduce me with this green eyes, kiss me, steal from me and now you try to deny it?……..do you not remember what I said to those who steal from me……”

He walked towards her chair, grabbing unto her face, planting a rough kiss on her lips. No heat. No jasmine and smoke. No trace of the fire that had kissed him on that balcony.

“Where were you four years ago Emilia?” It was the first time he said her name, his accent and the manner he pronounced it sent Emilia’s heart beating a little faster than usual.

“I’d tell you where. You were in Nice with me, in my room, sucking and getting fucked in all corners by me, that’s where you were” 

“….and you came alone,” she said, voice even “……..to get your dick sucked some more?”

“You thought I’d bring company to get the truth out of  you?” Luca’s tone was low, cutting, like a blade dulled only by restraint.

“No, I think you’re just throwing a tantrum because of how horny you are. first you kidnap me from an event, then you forcefully placed your lips on mine. I don’t know what you think I’ve done, but whoever did it to you sure deserves a medal” Emilia said, her brow lifting in a calm way.

“The ledger. The transfer from the Moreschi account to the offshore line I locked. It wasn’t hacked. It was someone who had access, access you stole from me.”

He was close now—too close. Emilia didn’t flinch. She didn’t back away. She looked up at him, expression unreadable.

“You think I did that?” she asked.

“I know you did.”

A long silence. The fire cracked. Something shifted in her eyes—disbelief? Disgust? Or something more subtle. She opened her mouth, then shut it. A breath passed between them.

“If you know,” she said softly, “why are you asking?”

“Because I expected you to confess.”

She tilted her head. “That sounds like a mistake.”

That was it—the last crack in his patience. “Marco,” Luca called over his shoulder. The door creaked again. Marco stepped in, silent and built like a wall in motion.

“Take her. East wing. Lock the second room.”

“Luca,” Emilia started, and for the first time, there was a tremble beneath her calm, the thread of something real. “This is a mistake. I don’t know anything about your accounts. I didn’t—”

He cut her off with a gesture. “Enough. Lie to me again, and I’ll start asking questions like why you have that little hamster tattoo on your pelvis”

Emilia paled. “You’ve met Isadora. My twin sister”

Luca stepped back, heart thudding. “Isadora.” The name hit him like a bullet.

The woman who vanished with his empire’s backbone wasn’t just a thief. She was blood to this—this innocent yet sharped mouth woman.

Marco moved toward her, and this time was to untie her hands. “Don’t touch me.”

“Then walk,” Marco said.

The door closed. Luca exhaled.

He stared into the fire, jaw clenched. Then he spoke to the room, though no one was there. “She fooled me. Again”