Luca took his biochemistry degree from the University of Milan in late summer, when the heat was already thinning out.
Graduation was quiet.
No family in the seats.
The next day, George called.
"Your hands shouldn't be turning pages anymore.
They should be handling people.
Work with me for a few months, Luca."
George's World
George was the family's outlier—
walked out of the Belloni circle without noise,
without a fight.
Skipped politics, skipped trade.
Built his empire in fashion instead—
moving between Canada, the States, and Paris
with the ease of someone who belonged everywhere
and nowhere.
Married another designer, Marcel.
Adopted a daughter.
The Secretary's Shadow
Luca's desk sat just outside George's office,
in a windowless corner.
Mornings, he sorted fashion show schedules and interview contracts.
Afternoons, he sat beside George in meetings—
politicians, old money, artists, even mafia-linked patrons.
All of them, bound to George through his "brand."
The Errand
Late afternoon. Rain against the glass.
George handed him a stack of papers.
"Take it to my house. Slip it straight into the mailbox."
Luca took the envelope without a word
and drove to a villa on the city's edge.
Stone walls, black iron gates, ivy wet and heavy in the rain.
He lifted the mailbox lid—
First Meeting
The door opened.
A girl with a black umbrella stepped down the front stairs.
Dark-brown hair clung damp to her shoulders.
Her grey eyes caught him.
"Who are you?"
Her voice was low, precise.
Not just cautious—probing.
"Delivering documents."
He slid the envelope into the box, holding her gaze.
She narrowed her eyes, as if memorizing him.
Something about her air—
an echo of the dissonance he'd once seen in his own reflection.
Brief Exchange
"Do you work with my father?"
"You could call it that."
A quick smile.
She nodded, crossed the wet yard, vanished into the house.
Luca didn't move until the door shut behind her.
That girl smells like me.
The Feeling
That night, back in the office, George asked:
"Ah, you met Celeste. Fourteen. Pretty kid. Sharp, too."
Luca only reported that the delivery was done.
But in his mind, the conclusion was already set—
She's the same kind.