Chapter 9 - THE KIDNAPPING SCARE
The fragile peace of their reunion was shattered three days later.
Luca was at Moretti Global headquarters finalizing the corporate merger paperwork when his private security detail called him with an urgent panic.
“Mr. Moretti! We have an emergency!”
“Speak!” Luca barked, standing up so fast his chair rolled back into the glass wall.
“Mrs. Carter’s children have not returned from their private academy in Lincoln Park.”
“Their nanny was found bound and gagged in the school’s underground parking garage.”
“And the children?” Luca roared, the blood freezing in his veins.
“Gone, sir.”
“Eyewitnesses report a black van with tinted windows speeding away toward Lake Shore Drive.”
“It’s Evelyn Shaw’s family security detail.”
Luca didn't hesitate.
He didn't call the police—they would take too long through bureaucratic red tape.
He drew upon every ruthless resource at his disposal.
“Track every traffic camera between Lincoln Park and the industrial docks,” Luca commanded into his phone as he sprinted toward his private elevator.
“Deploy my personal chopper to the rooftop pad immediately.”
“If a single hair on my children’s heads is harmed, I will burn Evelyn Shaw’s family estate to cinders.”
Within minutes, Luca was airborne, looking down at the sprawling grid of Chicago through the plexiglass window of his helicopter.
His mind raced in sheer terror.
He had spent years thinking he had lost everything important in life.
Now that he had found his children, the thought of losing them tore his soul apart.
“Sir! We have a visual on the black van!” his head pilot shouted over the headset comms.
“Heading toward an abandoned grain silo warehouse near the Calumet River!”
“Set the bird down on the roof,” Luca ordered coldly, pulling a heavy brass signet ring off his finger and slipping it into his pocket.
The helicopter hovered dangerously close to the rusted corrugated roof of the old warehouse before touching down with a metallic thud.
Luca leaped out before the rotor blades had even slowed, his security team dropping in behind him with tactical gear drawn.
They kicked open the rusted stairwell door and surged into the dusty, cavernous interior of the warehouse.
There, tied to wooden chairs near the center platform, sat Leo and Maya.
Their eyes were wide with fright, but they weren't crying.
Standing over them with a cold, manic smile was Evelyn Shaw, holding a heavy industrial zip-tie dispenser.
And beside her stood two hired thugs holding suppressed handguns.
“Stop right there, Luca!” Evelyn screamed, her hair disheveled, her expensive designer suit stained with warehouse dust.
“Take one more step, and your precious little heirs go swimming in the river!”
Luca froze, his eyes locking onto his children.
“Let them go, Evelyn,” Luca said, his voice dropping into a terrifying, dead calm.
“This is between you and me.”
“No, Luca, this is about everything you took from me!” Evelyn shrieked, waving her hand hysterically.
“You humiliated me in front of all of Chicago!”
“You threw away our engagement for a woman who abandoned you!”
“So I’m going to take what you love most, just like you took my future!”
As Evelyn raised her hand to signal the thug beside her, Luca’s head of security didn't wait.
A silenced crack echoed through the warehouse rafters.
The thug on the left dropped his weapon as a tactical dart struck his shoulder.
The second thug lunged forward, but Luca moved with explosive fury.
He tackled the man to the concrete floor, wresting the handgun away and striking him across the jaw with the butt of the weapon.
Evelyn screamed in panic, turning to grab Maya by the arm.
“Get away from her!” Luca roared, lunging forward.
Before Evelyn could pull the child away, Luca swept her legs out from under her, pinning her hard against the dusty floor.
He didn't hit her.
He simply pressed his knee into her back, holding her immobile while sirens wailed in the distance as local authorities—alerted by Luca’s private system—finally swarmed the building.
Luca immediately knelt beside the chairs, cutting the zip-ties with a pocket knife.
May you like
Leo and Maya threw their arms around his neck, sobbing softly.
“I’ve got you,” Luca whispered, burying his face in their hair as his hands shook violently. “Daddy’s here.”
