CHAPTER 4
1257 Words
ELENA'S POV
I didn’t sleep.
After reading that note a dozen times and checking the lock on every door and windows, I sat at the edge of my bed like I was waiting for something to happen. Maybe I was. A part of me had always known this day would come. Still, knowing and facing it are two different things entirely.
Midnight. Pier 14.
Dante.
My chest ached every time I whispered his name. It used to be a comfort, soft and sinful on my tongue, like a prayer I wasn’t supposed to say out loud. But now it tasted different. Bitter. Dangerous.
I didn’t tell anyone, not the neighbor who sometimes watched Luca, not even my boss at the diner. This wasn’t something you shared. This was war.
I left Luca sleeping soundly, his little face turned toward the wall, clinging to the stuffed lion I bought him last Christmas. The thought of him waking up to an empty apartment twisted my stomach.
But I had to go.
Pier 14 was on the edge of town, where the industrial meets the forgotten,old warehouses and shipping containers now home to squatters and stray cats. No streetlights, just the dim orange glow of a dock lamp flickering above the water like it was on its last breath.
I stood at the door of the pier with my coat wrapped tightly around me and my fists clenched deep in the pockets. The smell of rust hit me. I hated how familiar it all felt. Like I’d never really left this world,just pressed pause.
And then I heard it.
Footsteps.
He didn’t say anything at first. Just stood there a few feet away, hands in the pockets of his black coat, the shadows hugging him like an old friend.
“You came,” he said, voice low and tired.
I turned to face him. I didn’t flinch, didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing how hard my heart pounded.
“You sent a note,” I said. “I don’t take threats lightly.”
He exhaled through his nose. “It wasn’t a threat.”
“You said Luca’s in danger. What the hell else am I supposed to take from that?”
Dante’s jaw tightened. “It was a warning.”
“From who? You?”
“No. From people worse than me.”
I laughed, sharp and cold. “That’s rich, coming from the man who didn't care to tell me he was a Mafia Lord .”
His eyes narrowed. “We didn't have time to talk. I didn't know who you were?”
“You didn’t,” I snapped. “ I made a choice, Dante. You made a life. So did I. You don’t get to walk back in and shake mine apart.”
“I didn’t come here to shake it apart. I came to protect it.”
I took a step toward him before I even realized it. “You don’t even know him.”
“I know he’s mine.”
The words hung heavy between us.
“I know he’s mine,” he said again, quieter this time. “I knew the moment I saw his picture.”
My mouth went dry. “You have a picture of him?”
His expression didn’t change. “I’ve had someone watching you for months.”
“You bastard…”
“To keep you safe,” he cut in. “Not to hurt you. Never to hurt you, Elena.”
Tears burned the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them away. “You don’t get to play protector now. You’re five years too late.”
“I’m the one playing protector? You ran away with my son, my own blood,” he said with so much anger. “But this… this isn’t about us anymore. This is bigger. There are men who would use your son to get to me. And when they find out he exists…”
“They don’t know?” I whispered.
“Not yet. But someone’s been digging. Fast.”
I wanted to scream, but there wasn’t air in my lungs for it. “Why now?”
“Because the people who took down my father are making a comeback. And I’m next.”
I stared at him. “I thought you were the one running the show now.”
“I am. But that makes me the biggest target.”
I didn’t know what to say. I had no part in this world anymore. At least, I tried not to. I poured coffee and served pancakes and read bedtime stories. That was my life. Not… this.
“And what do you want from me?” I asked finally.
He looked at me then. Really looked. “I want you to come with me.”
“No.”
“Elena….”
“No,” I repeated, voice trembling. “You want me to take my son and disappear into your world, where people die and lie and vanish. I worked too damn hard to get him out of that life before he was ever born.”
He stepped closer. I didn’t move.
“You think I’d let anything happen to him?”
“I don’t think you can stop it.”
Silence.
“You’re wrong,” he said quietly. “But I get it. You left to protect our son. But you were a coward. You thought walking away would keep you safe?”
“Yes I left when I realized you were a Mafia Lord.But why come back, we were okay for years with you?”
He didn't reply.He reached into his coat and pulled something out. An envelope. My heart dropped when he handed it to me.
“What’s this?”
“Proof that someone’s following you. I thought it was just precaution, just shadows. But they’ve been getting close. This was taken yesterday. Outside Luca’s school.”
My fingers shook as I opened the envelope. Inside were photographs, blurry but clear enough.
Luca, in his red hoodie, stepping off the school bus.
Luca, eating an ice cream cone with Mrs. Dee from the apartment complex.
Luca, on the swings.
I choked. “You said you were watching us.”
“I have a man on you,” he said. “But these… these weren’t taken by my guy.”
“Oh my God.”
“You need to come with me, Elena.”
I was already shaking my head. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“You can’t afford not to.”
The words echoed in the empty pier. I looked down at the photos again. Luca. Smiling. Unaware.
I thought I could build a life safe from all this. I thought I could keep my son clean, untouched by the sins of his bloodline.
I was wrong.
“Where?” I whispered.
Dante’s voice was barely audible. “I have a safehouse two hours outside the city. No one knows about it. Not even the Family.”
I pressed a hand to my chest. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I’ll explain everything on the way,” he said. “But we need to go now. Before morning.”
“I have to get him.”
“I’ll drive you.”
I turned away from him, mind racing, heart breaking. Everything I built,the quiet routines, the change of names, every normal life i had was crumbling.
I didn’t want to go.
But I had no choice.
And Dante knew it.
- Writer
