Chapter 8 - THE LAST BELLANDI SON
Luca Bellandi had always been the quiet brother.
Marcus handled business.
Anthony handled enforcement.
Vanessa handled appearances.
Luca handled nothing anyone could see.
That should have worried everyone more.
He was thirty-two.
Educated in Switzerland.
Rarely photographed.
Officially managed Bellandi real estate investments.
Unofficially, even federal investigators had trouble deciding where he fit.
Anthony answered that question from custody.
“He’s worse than Dad.”
Desmond stood behind the interview-room glass.
Agent Torres sat beside him.
Anthony continued on the monitor.
“Dad likes people afraid.”
“Luca likes people confused.”
The investigator asked,
“Would he take Nora Reed?”
Anthony’s expression changed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad blamed her.”
“For the arrests?”
“For everything.”
Anthony leaned back.
“And Luca worships Dad.”
Desmond’s jaw tightened.
“Where?”
Anthony looked toward the mirror.
He knew Desmond stood behind it.
Then said,
“Ask Desmond where Bellandi weddings happen when they can’t happen in public.”
Torres looked at him.
Desmond frowned.
Then remembered.
The old Bellandi chapel outside Wilmington.
Private estate.
Small Catholic chapel built by Vincent’s grandfather.
Vanessa once mentioned it during wedding planning.
If the main venue became impossible, her mother wanted a family ceremony there.
Desmond moved.
Torres grabbed his arm.
“Police first.”
“I know.”
She blinked.
“Good.”
Nora woke inside a room that smelled of old wood and roses.
Her wrists were tied.
Not tightly enough to cut circulation.
Someone had removed her shoes.
That detail frightened her.
Kidnappers did not usually care about floor cleanliness.
She opened her eyes.
A white dress hung from the wardrobe.
Nora stared.
“No.”
A man near the window turned.
Luca Bellandi.
She recognized him.
He smiled.
“Good morning.”
“It’s midnight.”
“Technically.”
Nora tested the restraints.
“What do you want?”
“Resolution.”
“Your family has an interesting definition.”
Luca smiled.
“You canceled my sister’s wedding.”
“I personally did very little.”
“You found the evidence.”
“Yes.”
“You turned Desmond against us.”
“No.”
Nora looked at him.
“Your family murdered his brother.”
“Details.”
“Large detail.”
Luca crossed the room.
“You think Desmond loves you.”
Nora’s face remained still.
Luca noticed.
“That is not a question.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Everything.”
He touched the wedding dress.
“My father’s alliance required Hale and Bellandi blood.”
Nora laughed.
“Do I look Bellandi?”
“No.”
“Then your plan has an early structural problem.”
His smile disappeared.
“Desmond destroyed our name because of you.”
“No.”
“He destroyed the alliance because your family killed Ethan.”
“You keep repeating that.”
“Because you keep blaming me.”
Luca stepped closer.
“My father lost everything.”
“Your father is alive.”
“In prison.”
“Consequences are difficult.”
His eyes hardened.
Nora knew she was pushing him.
Good.
Angry people made mistakes.
“Desmond will come.”
“Probably.”
“You sound certain.”
“He came to my apartment because I missed four hours of work.”
Luca stared.
Despite everything, Nora almost smiled.
“Kidnapping me was excessive notification.”
Luca slapped her.
Her head snapped sideways.
Nora tasted blood.
He immediately regretted losing control.
She saw it.
“Better?”
His face tightened.
“Put on the dress.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough to know this is deeply weird.”
Luca leaned closer.
“The cameras will show Desmond Hale entering this chapel.”
“And?”
“Then they show him leaving after killing the last Bellandi son.”
Nora went still.
There.
The real plan.
Luca did not expect to survive.
He wanted his death pinned on Desmond.
A final act of revenge.
Federal cases.
Public scandal.
Renewed war.
Nora looked at the room differently.
Cameras.
Probably weapons positioned.
Maybe prerecorded footage.
“Why the dress?”
“Because stories matter.”
Luca smiled.
“The mafia boss canceled his wedding for his assistant.”
“A few months later, he kidnaps her and murders the bride’s brother in a chapel.”
He spread his hands.
“Beautiful.”
“You are insane.”
“People will believe it.”
Some would.
Especially with Desmond’s reputation.
Nora’s pulse accelerated.
“You sent the rose because you wanted Lily to call him.”
“Yes.”
“And you know he’ll come.”
“Yes.”
Nora smiled.
Luca frowned.
“What?”
“You don’t know Desmond anymore.”
“He hasn’t changed.”
“He called federal agents on Victor.”
Luca’s expression shifted.
Small.
Enough.
Nora continued.
“He let me resign.”
“So?”
“He did not follow me.”
“Hardly impressive.”
“You don’t understand.”
She leaned back.
“The old Desmond would already be inside your building.”
Luca’s eyes moved toward the window.
Nora saw fear.
Good.
Outside, Desmond sat in an armored federal vehicle two hundred yards from the chapel.
Every part of his body wanted to enter.
Torres refused.
“We have thermal.”
“How many?”
“Six inside.”
“Nora?”
“One seated second floor.”
“Alive?”
“Moving.”
He exhaled.
“Luca?”
“Probably ground floor.”
Desmond checked the time.
“Why is he waiting?”
Torres said,
“For you.”
Exactly.
Then Desmond’s phone rang.
Luca.
He answered.
“Put Nora on.”
Luca laughed.
“You men are predictable.”
“Put her on.”
A pause.
Nora’s voice.
“Desmond.”
His eyes closed.
“You hurt?”
“My pride.”
“Nora.”
“Split lip.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“Good.”
Nora said,
“Do not come inside.”
Luca grabbed the phone.
“You hear that? She’s worried.”
Desmond’s voice became calm.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“For?”
“A conversation.”
“No.”
Silence.
Luca had expected obedience.
Desmond continued.
“I’m not entering.”
“You will.”
“No.”
“I can hurt her.”
Nora shouted something in the background.
Desmond closed his eyes.
Then:
“You can.”
Torres looked at him.
His voice shook despite the calm words.
“But hurting Nora does not make me walk into the room you prepared.”
Nora stopped struggling.
She heard.
Trust.
Again.
The hardest kind.
Luca’s voice changed.
“You’re willing to risk her?”
“No.”
“I’m unwilling to pretend you control the only options.”
Desmond looked toward Torres.
She nodded.
Tactical teams moved.
Luca heard something.
“What did you do?”
“Called people with badges.”
“You coward.”
Desmond almost smiled.
“I’m becoming comfortable with that insult.”
Luca hung up.
Inside, he ran upstairs.
Nora heard footsteps.
She worked at the rope around her wrist.
Luca entered holding a pistol.
“Get up.”
“No.”
He grabbed her.
Nora threw her weight sideways.
They hit the bed.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
She drove her knee upward.
Luca cursed.
The door exploded inward.
Agents entered.
Luca pulled Nora against him.
Gun at her jaw.
“BACK!”
Everyone stopped.
Nora breathed carefully.
Desmond was not among them.
Good.
Luca looked around.
“Where is Hale?”
No one answered.
His face twisted.
“He didn’t come?”
Nora smiled despite the gun.
“I told you.”
Something broke in Luca.
“He loves you!”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised even Nora.
Luca stared.
Then she continued.
“And that is exactly why he did not hand you control.”
His grip tightened.
A window shattered.
Diversion.
Luca turned.
Nora slammed her heel onto his foot.
He loosened his arm.
She dropped.
Agents fired.
Luca fell.
Alive.
Bullet in shoulder.
Within seconds, he was restrained.
Nora sat on the floor.
Breathing hard.
Torres entered.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Your definition of okay concerns me.”
“I hear that often.”
Then Desmond appeared in the doorway.
He had waited until the room was secure.
Nora stared.
He stared back.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then he walked toward her.
Stopped.
“Can I?”
Nora’s eyes filled.
He was asking permission to touch her after she had been kidnapped.
She nodded.
Desmond dropped to his knees.
Wrapped his arms around her.
Nora held him.
No hesitation.
No professional distance.
His face pressed against her hair.
“You stayed outside.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you would come in.”
“So did I.”
She laughed weakly.
“You trusted me.”
“Yes.”
“To survive.”
“Yes.”
His voice broke.
“I hated every second.”
Nora pulled back enough to look at him.
“That’s what trust feels like sometimes.”
He laughed.
Then she kissed him.
No warning.
No careful negotiation.
Five years of restraint collapsed.
Desmond froze for half a heartbeat.
Then kissed her back.
Slowly at first.
Then like a man who had spent years refusing to recognize hunger because admitting it would change everything.
Nora pulled away.
Both breathing hard.
Desmond touched his forehead to hers.
“Not yet?”
She smiled.
“Maybe now.”
He laughed.
Then stopped.
“You said you love me.”
“You remember?”
“Every word.”
“I was hoping trauma erased some.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I love you too.”
Nora’s expression changed.
Desmond continued before she could interrupt.
“I know you told me not to decide during chaos.”
“This is chaos.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
“So I am not asking you for anything.”
He touched her cheek carefully, avoiding the bruise.
“I’m telling you.”
Nora’s eyes filled.
“I love you.”
A siren sounded outside.
Agents moved around them.
Luca Bellandi cursed from the hallway.
Nora laughed through tears.
“Your timing is terrible.”
“I almost married Vanessa Bellandi.”
“Fair point.”
Desmond stood.
Offered his hand.
Nora took it.
Together they walked out of the chapel.
The white wedding dress remained hanging upstairs.
Unused.
Another Bellandi wedding that would never happen.
But outside, under emergency lights and a cold Delaware sky, Desmond Hale realized the first relationship he genuinely wanted would require something harder than canceling an arranged marriage.
He would have to build a life where Nora could love him without disappearing into his.
May you like
And for once, there was no enemy he could defeat to make that happen faster.
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