Chapter 18 - Boss Mia’s Second Order
Friday evening arrived with rain.
Luca hated rain.
For years it had reminded him of funerals, canceled meetings and difficult drives.
That night, he barely noticed.
He stood outside Elena’s apartment holding flowers.
Then he looked at them.
Too formal.
He returned them to the car.
Then changed his mind.
He retrieved them.
A neighbor watched this entire process from a window.
Luca pretended not to notice.
Elena opened the door.
She wore a simple navy dress.
No uniform.
No fear.
For a moment he forgot what he had planned to say.
She smiled.
“Are those flowers surviving some kind of internal debate?”
“Yes.”
“Who won?”
“You.”
“That was the correct answer.”
Mia appeared behind her wearing pajamas.
She pointed at Luca.
“Bring Mommy home.”
Elena laughed.
“I live here.”
Mia frowned.
“Other home.”
Luca crouched.
“I’ll bring her back here.”
“Ten.”
“What?”
“Ten.”
“Ten what?”
Mia held up her fingers.
“O’clock.”
Elena stared.
“Mrs. Alvarez taught you time?”
“Boss knows.”
Luca nodded.
“Ten.”
Mia narrowed her eyes.
“Nine.”
“That negotiation went backward.”
“Nine.”
Elena pulled Luca toward the hallway.
“Before she imposes a curfew.”
Their first dinner lasted three hours.
They did not talk about Victor.
They did not talk about fraud.
They barely discussed the Moretti companies.
Luca told Elena about being thirteen and getting caught climbing out a boarding-school window.
She laughed so hard people turned toward them.
Elena told him about Thomas’s terrible cooking.
Luca listened.
There was no jealousy in hearing about Thomas.
A dead man did not disappear because life continued.
Thomas was part of Elena.
Loving her someday—if they ever reached that word—would mean respecting him too.
At 9:07, Elena looked at her watch.
“We violated the boss’s order.”
“Terrifying.”
“She may fire you.”
“She tried twice last week.”
“From your own company?”
“Authority has gone to her head.”
They returned to the apartment.
Mia was asleep.
Or pretending.
One eye opened when Luca entered.
“You late.”
“Seven minutes.”
“Bad.”
“Severe consequences?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
She thought.
“Hug Mommy.”
Elena went still.
Luca looked amused.
“Mia.”
“What?”
“That is not how dating works.”
Mia sat up.
“Boss order.”
Luca looked at Elena.
“Apparently I’m obligated.”
Elena smiled.
“Wouldn’t want to challenge management.”
He stepped closer.
The hug was brief.
Gentle.
But when they separated, neither moved far.
Mia smiled.
“Good.”
Then she fell asleep again.
Weeks became months.
Luca dated Elena carefully.
Not secretly.
Not recklessly.
He met her after work.
She visited the estate often because the Thomas Bennett Family Center had offered her a position coordinating support for employee families.
She initially refused.
Then accepted after confirming three separate times that Luca would not supervise her.
“I own the foundation.”
“You fund it.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
She won.
Luca was secretly proud.
Mia turned four in the spring.
Her birthday party was held in the estate gardens.
There were balloons.
Cupcakes.
Children everywhere.
Marco wore a paper crown against his will.
Daniel lost a three-legged race to a six-year-old.
Even Celeste sent a letter from the federal facility where she was serving a reduced sentence after cooperating with investigators.
The letter was addressed to Elena.
I don’t expect forgiveness.
But I wanted you to know I testified fully about Thomas.
He deserved truth sooner.
Elena folded the letter.
She did not know whether she would ever answer.
That was her choice.
Victor sent no letter.
But Daniel told Luca that part of Victor’s recovered assets had been voluntarily surrendered beyond what prosecutors required.
The money went to Raven Shore.
Perhaps guilt.
Perhaps repentance.
Perhaps both.
That evening, after the party ended, Mia disappeared.
Elena noticed first.
“Where is she?”
Luca already knew.
They walked toward his office.
The door stood open.
Mia sat behind the marble desk.
The black leather chair still swallowed her tiny frame.
Her pink sneakers were new.
But they still did not reach the floor.
Luca leaned against the doorway.
“Again?”
“I’m boss.”
“You’ve been waiting a year to say that.”
“Yes.”
Elena entered.
“Five minutes.”
Mia frowned.
“Ten.”
Luca shook his head.
“Five.”
“Six.”
Elena laughed.
“Six.”
Luca looked betrayed.
“You’re supposed to support me.”
“I support fair labor negotiations.”
Mia banged the fountain pen gently against the desk.
“Order!”
Luca and Elena stood before her.
“Yes, Boss?” Luca asked.
Mia became serious.
“My first order was nobody make Mommy cry.”
Luca’s smile faded slightly.
“I remember.”
Mia looked at Elena.
“Mommy still cry sometimes.”
Elena crouched beside her.
“Sometimes people cry because they miss someone.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes.”
Mia thought.
“That okay?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Then she looked at Luca.
“Second order.”
He waited.
“No secrets.”
Luca and Elena exchanged a glance.
Mia continued.
“Good secrets like birthday okay.”
Luca nodded solemnly.
“Important legal distinction.”
“But bad secrets no.”
“No bad secrets,” Elena agreed.
Mia leaned forward.
“And third order.”
Luca raised an eyebrow.
“You’re getting ambitious.”
Mia ignored him.
“You have to marry Mommy.”
Silence.
Elena's mouth fell open.
“Mia!”
“What?”
Luca stared at the tiny girl.
Then at Elena.
Then back at Mia.
“That is outside your executive authority.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Elena covered her face.
Luca began laughing.
Not a restrained smile.
Not the quiet amusement Elena had learned to recognize.
Real laughter.
The kind Mia had almost never heard from him during her first months at the estate.
She grinned.
“You happy.”
Luca looked at Elena.
“Yes.”
He was.
For the first time in longer than he could remember, the answer was uncomplicated.
May you like
Yes.
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