Chapter 2
1132 Words
Ravenhall looked like something out of a nightmare.
Dark stone. Iron gates. Guards everywhere. The SUV passed through three checkpoints before reaching the main house.
Elena's hands wouldn't stop shaking. She pressed them against her thighs.
Breathe. Just breathe.
Panic wouldn't help. Logic might.
She was a witness. They couldn't just kill her…that would create more problems. She had value. As long as she stayed valuable, she stayed alive.
The guards walked her through massive oak doors into an entrance hall that belonged in a museum. Marble floors. Crystal chandeliers. Paintings that probably cost more than her life.
"This way."
They led her down a long corridor lined with portraits. Serious men in expensive suits stared down at her with dead eyes. The Vescari family tree. Generations of this.
The corridor ended at a heavy wooden door. The guard knocked twice.
"Enter."
The office was huge. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. Bookshelves filled with leather-bound books that probably had never been read. A massive desk in the center, dark wood polished so bright she could see her reflection.
Three men waited inside.
The one behind the desk was clearly in charge. Tall. Perfectly dressed in a three-piece suit even though it was past midnight. Dark hair with silver at the temples. Eyes that cut right through her.
Matteo Vescari. The Don. She'd seen his picture in newspapers… charity events, business deals. In person, he was worse.
Near the window stood a mountain of a man with scars on his face and ice-blue eyes. He watched her like she was something he might need to break.
Rowan Vescari. The enforcer.
The third man sat in a leather chair, too relaxed. Younger than the others. Handsome in a way that made her skin crawl. He smiled at her.
Lucien Vescari. The one who made you trust him right before he destroyed you.
"Miss Moreau," Matteo said. His voice was quiet. Controlled. "Sit."
Not a request.
Elena sat. Kept her spine straight even though everything in her screamed to run.
"You've had a difficult few days," Matteo said. "Running. Hiding. Wondering who's following you."
"You had me followed."
"We had you protected," Lucien corrected. Still smiling. "There's a difference."
"Protected from what?"
Matteo opened a folder. "Elena Marie Moreau. Twenty-six. Top of your law class. Full scholarship. Works nights at Bernie's Diner. Owes forty-three thousand in medical debt." He looked up. "Your father died when you were sixteen. Gang crossfire, they said."
Her blood went cold. They knew everything.
"The man you saw killed," Matteo continued, "was Richard Castellano. He ran our shipping operations. Someone executed him to send us a message. You witnessed it."
"Then talk to the police."
Rowan made a sound like a laugh. "The police."
"The shooter works for Viktor Konstantin," Matteo said. "Russian operations. He's been trying to take our territory for two years. Killing Castellano was a declaration of war."
"Not my problem."
"It became your problem when you saw his man's face." Lucien leaned forward. "Viktor knows there's a witness. He has people in the police department. They told him everything you told Detective Wade. Your name. Your address. Where you go to school."
Elena's stomach dropped. "Wade's dirty?"
"Wade's terrified," Matteo said. "He's one of the few honest ones. But his bosses aren't. They've been ordered to make you disappear. Either into Viktor's hands or into a cell where no one will listen to you."
"You're lying."
Matteo turned his computer monitor. Security footage showed Wade in a parking garage talking to a man she didn't recognize. Wade looked sick. The other man looked like he was threatening him.
"Yesterday," Matteo said. "Wade's being pressured to hand you over. He's resisting. But he has a wife. Two daughters."
Elena stared at the footage. The body language didn't lie.
"What do you want from me?"
Matteo slid a document across the desk. "Your cooperation. You'll live here. Under our protection. You follow our rules. In exchange, Viktor doesn't get you."
Elena picked up the document. Started reading. Her legal training kicked in automatically.
It was brilliant. Terrifying, but brilliant.
The contract put her under Vescari's authority…no end date specified. She couldn't leave without permission. Couldn't contact anyone unsupervised. Had to follow orders from any of the three brothers. Breaking the agreement meant "termination of protection services."
Death. That meant death.
But buried in the language were protections for her too. Safe housing. Food. Medical care. Resources for school. They couldn't harm her or force her into illegal activity without consent. If they broke it, she'd be released with compensation.
"This is insane."
"This is survival," Matteo said. "Sign it and live here safely. Refuse, and we let you go. Viktor will have you within twenty-four hours. You'll disappear. No one will find you."
"You're threatening me."
"I'm offering you a choice." His steel eyes held hers. "A real one. We don't force people; forced cooperation doesn't work. But you need to understand what you're choosing."
"Why not just let Viktor have me? I'm a witness against his man, not yours."
Lucien laughed. "Oh, sweetheart. You really don't get it."
"Get what?"
Rowan spoke for the first time. His voice was rough. "Viktor will torture you. Make you tell him everything you saw. Everything about your life. Your friends." He paused. "Your sister."
The world stopped.
"What sister? My sister's dead."
The three brothers looked at each other.
"No," Matteo said quietly. "She's not."
He turned the monitor again. New footage. A young woman in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines. She looked fragile. Sick. But her face…
Sofia.
Elena couldn't breathe.
"That's impossible," she whispered. "She died. In the same attack that killed my father. They told me she died."
"They lied," Lucien said. "Viktor's people have had her for ten years. Medical facilities under false names. She thinks you're dead too. They've been using her illness to keep her dependent."
Elena stared at the screen. Sofia. Alive. Her baby sister had been suffering for ten years while Elena thought she was in the ground.
"You're lying."
But they weren't. She could see it in their faces. The evidence was right there.
"Viktor will use her to control you," Matteo said. "If he takes you, he'll torture you both. If you cooperate with us, we can protect you. We can get your sister out."
Elena looked at the contract in her shaking hands. Looked at the three men who held all the cards. Looked at her sister on the screen.
No choice. She had no choice at all.
"Where do I sign?"
Matteo slid a pen across the desk.
Elena signed her name. Watched the ink dry.
Binding her to monsters.
"Welcome to Ravenhall, Miss Moreau," Matteo said.
And just like that, her old life was over.
- Writer
