Chapter 4: Underneath the Surface

Marco DeLuca wasn’t used to surprises. His world was structured, planned, and precise—every move, every conversation, every glance calculated to maintain the power he had fought so hard to earn. And yet, Amelia Hart was a surprise he didn’t know how to handle.

Since that first kiss on the terrace, everything about their relationship had changed, and Marco felt like he was stepping into unfamiliar territory. They were no longer just a mafia boss and a hidden CEO, two people from opposite worlds. There was something deeper now—something real. Something that made Marco feel... vulnerable.

He found himself thinking about her constantly. The sound of her laugh. The way her eyes sparkled when she teased him. The warmth of her touch. And most of all, the ease with which she’d slipped into his life, like she belonged there all along.

Tonight, Marco was sitting in his office at DeLuca Enterprises, but his mind wasn’t on the contracts or the ongoing negotiations with other families. It was on Amelia.

As he tapped his pen against the desk, a knock at the door broke his concentration.

“Come in,” he called.

The door creaked open, and his right-hand man, Salvatore, stepped inside, holding a file in his hands. Marco’s focus shifted immediately to the papers, but Salvatore’s usual stoic expression softened for a second as he saw the look on his boss’s face.

“You alright, boss?” Salvatore asked, arching an eyebrow.

Marco straightened up in his chair, dismissing the thought of Amelia for the moment. “Yeah. Just thinking.”

Salvatore, who had been working with Marco since his early days in the family, didn’t need more than that to know the situation was related to a woman. It was no secret to anyone close to Marco that the DeLuca boss had a complicated relationship with love.

“You’ve got a meeting with the Moretti family tonight. It’s about the territories, but I can postpone it if—”

“No, it’s fine,” Marco interrupted, waving his hand dismissively. “I’ll be there. Just… make sure everything’s ready.”

Salvatore nodded, but he didn’t leave. He stood there for a beat longer than usual, his gaze lingering on Marco with something like amusement in his eyes.

“You know,” Salvatore said carefully, “if you’re thinking too much about this woman, it’s going to complicate things.”

Marco shot him a sharp look. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve got enemies. You’ve got people who would use your… affections to undermine you. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a woman like that, the CEO of Hart Technologies? She’s more than just a pretty face.”

Marco’s jaw clenched. “I know who she is.”

Salvatore held up his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying—watch your back.”

“I will,” Marco said, his voice low. “But Amelia’s not like the women I’ve dealt with before, Sal. She’s different.”

Salvatore gave him a skeptical look. “If you say so, boss. Just remember—the family comes first.”

Marco nodded sharply, his gaze hardening. He wasn’t used to anyone telling him what to do, but Salvatore was right. The world he lived in was dangerous, and it didn’t matter who you were—it would swallow you whole if you weren’t careful.

Later that evening, after the meeting with the Morettis was over, Marco found himself in the backseat of his car, headed to the restaurant where he was meeting Amelia. The tension from the meeting still hung heavy in the air, but when he thought about Amelia—her laughter, her easy confidence—he couldn’t help but feel a small sense of peace.

When he arrived at the restaurant, a high-end Italian place in the city, Marco was surprised to see Amelia already waiting at the table, her back straight, her smile as warm as ever. She wasn’t wearing the corporate suit he expected but a simple black dress that hugged her form just enough to make him want to forget about the mafia for a moment.

She stood when she saw him. “Well, well, look who finally showed up.”

Marco smirked. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

She motioned for him to sit. “You look like you’ve had a long day.”

“Long week,” he replied, settling into the chair across from her. “But I’m glad I’m here.”

They ordered their food, and the conversation was light at first, full of teasing and laughter. For a moment, Marco felt like he could pretend he wasn’t the head of the most powerful crime family in the city, that he wasn’t constantly looking over his shoulder. In Amelia’s presence, he could almost forget about the weight of his world.

But as the night wore on, the conversation shifted. Amelia’s eyes grew serious, her brow furrowing slightly as she looked at him.

“Tell me, Marco,” she began, her tone quiet but deliberate, “what’s really bothering you?”

Marco hesitated. He wasn’t used to being vulnerable, especially not with someone outside his world. But there was something about her that made him want to open up, to let her in.

“It’s… everything,” he admitted, the words coming out more easily than he expected. “The business, the family. I’m constantly watching my back. The second I let my guard down, it could all fall apart.”

Amelia’s eyes softened. “I get it. But you don’t have to do it alone, you know.”

Marco chuckled bitterly. “I’ve been alone for a long time, Amelia. I don’t know how to fix that.”

She reached across the table, placing her hand over his, her fingers warm against his skin. “You don’t have to fix it. Just… let me be a part of it. Let me help you.”

Her words hit him like a wave, and for the first time in years, Marco found himself considering the possibility of someone being in his life who wasn’t there because of fear, power, or money. Amelia wasn’t interested in him because he was a mafia boss. She was interested in him because—well, because he was Marco.

The realization was a lot to take in, but it felt right.

For the first time in a long time, Marco wasn’t thinking about his empire. He wasn’t thinking about what he had to do next to keep his world intact. He was thinking about Amelia—about how he wanted her to be in his life for good.

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