Chapter 6 - A Trap in the ArchivesBy midnight, the mansion was dead silent, save for the rhythmic clicking of Caesar’s claws on the hardwood floor outside the second-floor suite.
Ruby couldn't sleep. The plush king-sized bed felt entirely too soft, the silk sheets felt foreign, and the terrifying reality of her new situation pressed down on her chest like a physical weight. She sat by the tall bay window, wrapped in a heavy velvet bathrobe Mrs. Gable had grudgingly provided, watching the moonlight dance across the churning black waves of the bay.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
Before Ruby could answer, the door clicked open, and Luca stepped inside. He had removed his suit jacket and tie, his white dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar. He looked tired—not the bored, intimidating mob boss from the club, but a man carrying the crushing weight of a war that had no end in sight.
"You're still awake," Luca observed quietly, walking over to stand a few feet away from the window.
"Hard to sleep when half of Baltimore's criminal underworld wants to turn my clinic into a crater," Ruby said without looking at him. "Why Moretti? What does he actually want with Caesar?"
Luca stared out at the dark water, his jaw clenching. "Moretti isn't just a rival. He’s a remnant of the old guard—the ones who ran Baltimore like a slaughterhouse before my father took over. When my father died, Moretti thought he could carve up the docks."
"And Caesar?"
"Caesar isn't just a dog," Luca said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "He was trained by my father’s security detail to patrol the primary underground shipping tunnels beneath the Inner Harbor. He knows every access code, every blind spot, every hidden vault where we store our ledger backups."
Ruby’s breath hitched. "They think the dog is a walking vault key."
"Moretti thinks if he captures Caesar, he can extract the patrol routes, breach our primary financial hub, and crush my empire in a single night," Luca said, turning his dark eyes toward her. "That’s why they tracked him to your clinic. They didn't just want a stray animal. They wanted the key to the city."
Ruby stood up from the armchair, her heart pounding. "Then why did you bring me here? If Moretti knows Caesar is the key, he knows the dog is with me. Which means your estate isn't a sanctuary—it's ground zero."
"Because," Luca said, taking a slow step toward her, closing the distance between them until she could feel the heat radiating from his broad frame, "Moretti doesn't know the most important variable in the equation."
"What variable?"
"Caesar didn't choose the dog handlers, the tactical experts, or the underground bosses," Luca said softly, his gaze locking onto hers with an intensity that made her breath catch. "He chose you. An ordinary woman who saw a bleeding animal and didn't reach for a gun."
Ruby swallowed hard, suddenly very aware of how close he was. The scent of rain, cedar, and raw power surrounded her. "That doesn't make me a soldier, Luca."
"Good," Luca murmured, his voice dropping to a gravelly register. "Because I have enough soldiers. What I need is someone who can remind my dog—and me—what it actually means to be alive."
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Before Ruby could process the dangerous pull in his eyes, a shrill, piercing alarm shrieked through the entire mansion.
Red emergency lights flickered to life along the corridor ceiling, casting a bloody glow across the marble walls.
