Chapter 7 - The Unmasked Boss
Naomi froze. The words hung in the dimly lit hallway like a loaded weapon. Unlike what I want with you.
“Mr. Moretti—Luca,” Naomi corrected herself breathlessly, trying to step back, but the wall was right behind her. “You don’t know anything about me. I’m an employee. I work for your household. This is... this is completely inappropriate.”
Luca didn't retreat. Instead, he placed one large hand flat against the wall beside her head, effectively trapping her in his space without touching her body directly. The sheer dominance and raw masculine energy radiating from him was intoxicating, yet terrifying.
“I know everything about you, Naomi,” Luca countered smoothly, his dark eyes locking onto her lips before rising back to meet her gaze. “I know you graduated top of your class in pediatric psychology from NYU before your father’s medical bills buried you in debt. I know you send half your paycheck to your younger brother’s college fund every single month. And I know you haven’t taken a single day off in five months because you refused to let anyone else cook my mother’s meals.”
Naomi’s eyes widened in sheer astonishment. “You... you had me investigated?”
“In my world, everyone is investigated,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly hum. “When you applied for the position, my security team tore your life apart. And do you know what they found? Nothing. Absolutely nothing except a good, fierce, brilliant woman who was too proud to ask for charity.”
He lowered his head slightly, his breath warm against her temple. “You thought you were invisible in this house, Naomi. But you’ve been the center of my universe for months. Every time I walked through those front doors and saw you reading poetry to my mother by the garden window... I knew I was falling for a woman I had no business touching.”
Naomi’s heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. Every rational instinct in her mind screamed at her to push him away, to quit her job, to run as far away from the Moretti syndicate as her legs could carry her. He was a dangerous, feared mafia boss whose enemies ended up in the Hudson River.
Yet, as she looked up into his dark, storm-filled eyes, she didn't see a monster. She saw a lonely man who loved his mother fiercely, and who was looking at her as if she were the only real thing in a world built on lies.
“Luca...” she whispered, her voice failing her completely as his head dipped closer.
May you like
Before she could speak another word, Luca captured her lips with his.
The kiss wasn't gentle or hesitant; it was fierce, hungry, and desperate—a culmination of months of silent longing and suppressed tension. Naomi gasped softly against his mouth, and that tiny opening was all he needed. His arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her slightly as he crushed her against his chest, deepening the kiss until the rest of the world dissolved into absolute nothingness.
