Chapter 9 - The Price of EmpireOn the wet stone of the portico, Moretti lay pinned beneath the massive weight of the Cane Corso, gasping for breath as Caesar’s jaws hovered inches from his throat.
Luca stepped out behind Ruby, lowering his smoking pistol. He looked down at Moretti with absolute, chilling detachment.
"You lost, old man," Luca said quietly.
Moretti spat blood onto the wet stone, his eyes wide with terror as he stared up at the giant dog. "Kill me, then. Go ahead."
"Killing you is too easy," Luca replied, turning to Viktor, who had just stepped outside with a pair of heavy zip-ties. "Lock him in the lower hold beneath Pier 4. Let the federal investigators find him in the morning. Let’s see how much of his empire is left when the indictments drop."
As Viktor hauled the sputtering, cursing Moretti away, the courtyard finally grew quiet, save for the steady drum of the rain.
Caesar remained standing over the empty space where Moretti had lain, his chest heaving, his amber eyes slowly returning from the red haze of combat to a calm, steady focus.
Slowly, the giant dog turned around. He looked at Ruby.
Without hesitation, Caesar trotted over, lowered his massive head, and deliberately rested his heavy weight directly across Ruby’s feet, pinning her to the wet stone.
Ruby let out a sharp, exasperated breath, though a watery smile broke through her exhaustion. "Are you kidding me? We just survived an assassination attempt, your old boss is going to a federal penitentiary, and you’re still using my toes as a footrest?"
Luca walked over, stopping just inches away. The rain plastered his dark hair to his forehead, and a smear of soot stained his white shirt, but the coldness in his eyes was entirely gone, replaced by a deep, blazing warmth.
He knelt down on one knee—right beside the dog—ignoring the mud and the rain soaking through his trousers. He looked up at Ruby, his gaze burning with an intensity that made the storm around them fade into nothing.
"You saved my life, Ruby," Luca said softly, his voice rich and steady. "And you saved my dog. In my world, debts like that are never settled."
"Good," Ruby retorted, her heart hammering against her ribs for an entirely different reason now. "Because my clinic sustained about fifty thousand dollars in property damage, and I expect you to pay for every single cat scratching post."
Luca let out a deep, genuine laugh—the sound rich and warm against the dark Baltimore night. He reached out, gently taking her grease-stained, trembling hand in his warm, calloused palm.
"You can have the whole harbor, Ruby," Luca whispered, his thumb brushing softly across her knuckles. "As long as you and this stubborn dog agree to stay right here where you belong."
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Ruby looked down at Caesar, then back up at the most dangerous man in Baltimore, who was currently looking at her like she hung the stars in the sky.
She let out a soft sigh, squeezing his hand back. "Well... I suppose the rent is paid up."
