YOU ARE MINE

CHAPTER 9: THE ROSSI MANSION

Elena did not cry after they left the theater.

That frightened Adrian more than her tears would have.

She sat in the back seat of the armored car, staring through the window as New York passed by in a blur of lights and rain.

Her mother's blood was still on her hands.

She had tried washing them.

Twice.

It hadn't helped.

Adrian sat opposite her.

He had seen men die before.

He had ordered deaths.

He had watched enemies beg for mercy.

But watching Elena lose the only person she had spent twenty years believing was dead had affected him differently.

He wanted to say something.

Anything.

But there were no words large enough for that kind of pain.

Finally, Elena whispered,

"She knew she was going to die."

Adrian looked at her.

"What?"

"My mother."

Her voice was almost emotionless.

"She looked at me like she already knew."

Adrian said nothing.

"She waited twenty years to see me."

Elena looked down at her hands.

"And I got her killed."

"No."

She looked at him.

"You don't know that."

"I do."

"How?"

"Because they were already waiting for her."

Adrian leaned forward.

"They didn't attack because we came. They attacked because they knew where she was."

Elena's eyes narrowed.

"How?"

"Someone told them."

Silence filled the car.

Then Elena understood.

"Someone from the Moretti family."

"Maybe."

"Or the Rossis."

"Maybe."

She stared at him.

"You're thinking of Matteo."

"Yes."

"Mother said not to trust him."

"That makes two people who have warned us."

"Gabriel and my mother."

Adrian nodded.

"And both of them have lied to us before."

Elena closed her eyes.

"Then who can we trust?"

Adrian looked at her.

"Each other."

She opened her eyes.

For a moment, neither looked away.

Then the car stopped.

They had arrived at the Rossi mansion.

Elena frowned.

"Why are we here?"

"Because there are answers inside."

"My father isn't here."

"I know."

"Then why?"

"Your mother said the truth was connected to the past."

Adrian opened the door.

"The Rossi family kept records here long before you were born."

---

The mansion stood on a hill overlooking the Hudson.

It had belonged to the Rossi family for three generations.

Victor had moved most of his operations elsewhere years ago, but the old mansion remained.

It was supposed to be empty.

It wasn't.

Adrian noticed the lights immediately.

"Someone is inside."

Luca stepped out of the vehicle.

"Guards?"

"None."

Adrian pulled his weapon.

"That's the problem."

Elena stood beside him.

"Could it be my father?"

"Maybe."

They entered through the main door.

The mansion smelled of dust and old wood.

Portraits covered the walls.

Rossi ancestors.

Men who had built the family empire through blood and fear.

Elena walked slowly.

She stopped in front of one portrait.

A young Isabella stood beside Victor.

Behind them was a man Elena had never seen.

Gabriel.

But there was something strange about the photograph.

A little girl stood in the background.

Elena.

She frowned.

"Why was I here?"

Adrian examined the picture.

"You told me you barely remembered this place."

"I don't."

"Maybe someone erased those memories."

Elena looked at him.

"Can that happen?"

"Trauma can do strange things."

Before she could answer, a noise came from upstairs.

Adrian raised his weapon.

"Luca."

"Already moving."

The guards spread through the mansion.

Adrian took Elena toward the staircase.

They reached the second floor.

Another sound.

A door closing.

Adrian moved quickly.

He kicked the door open.

Empty.

Only a chair stood beside the window.

On it was a black envelope.

Elena walked toward it.

Adrian stopped her.

"Don't touch it."

He used a knife to open the envelope.

Inside was a key.

And a note.

THE ROOM BELOW THE CHAPEL.

Elena looked confused.

"What room?"

Adrian remembered the underground chamber in Sicily.

"The chapel."

"There's a chapel here?"

"Every old Rossi estate had one."

They moved toward the back of the mansion.

A narrow hallway led to a small wooden door.

Behind it was an old chapel.

Elena entered.

The room was covered in dust.

At the front stood a stone altar.

Adrian searched the walls.

Nothing.

Then Elena noticed something.

"Wait."

She pointed toward the floor.

A section of stone looked different.

Adrian knelt.

He pressed it.

A hidden door opened.

A staircase descended into darkness.

Elena looked at him.

"Again?"

"Apparently."

They went down.

At the bottom was a room filled with shelves.

Documents.

Photographs.

Ledgers.

Old newspapers.

Boxes.

Adrian picked up a folder.

The label read:

PROJECT CROWN.

Elena's face tightened.

"Open it."

Inside were financial records.

Names.

Dates.

Payments.

Adrian turned the pages.

Then he stopped.

One name appeared again and again.

MATTEO MORETTI.

Elena looked over his shoulder.

"How long?"

Adrian scanned the dates.

"Twenty-three years."

She stared at him.

"He was working with Gabriel before you were born."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"Apparently."

Another document caught his attention.

A contract.

Three signatures.

Alessandro Moretti.

Victor Rossi.

Gabriel Vescari.

At the bottom was a fourth signature.

Isabella Rossi.

Elena picked it up.

"What does it say?"

Adrian read it.

His expression changed.

"Marriage agreement."

"Between whom?"

He looked at her.

"You and me."

Elena went completely still.

"What?"

"The agreement was signed before you were born."

She grabbed the document.

It was true.

Her name was written there.

ELENA ROSSI.

And beneath it:

ADRIAN MORETTI.

"That's impossible."

Adrian turned another page.

There was another clause.

"If the heirs marry, control of the Crown shall be transferred to their union."

Elena's hands trembled.

"So that's why they wanted us engaged."

"Yes."

"Not peace."

"No."

"The Crown."

"Yes."

She looked at him.

"And if we don't marry?"

Adrian's expression darkened.

"They lose control."

Elena slowly understood.

The engagement had never been about ending the war.

It had been about creating a new ruler.

A ruler connected to both bloodlines.

The Moretti heir.

The Rossi heir.

Together, they would possess enough influence to control the entire organization.

But there was one problem.

Adrian had never wanted the Crown.

And Elena had never known she was part of the game.

A sound came from behind them.

They turned.

Luca stood at the entrance.

"We have company."

Adrian reached for his gun.

"How many?"

"Six."

"Where?"

"Upstairs."

Elena looked at the documents.

"We can't leave these."

"We don't have a choice."

Adrian grabbed the most important files.

"Take what you can."

They moved toward the staircase.

Gunfire erupted above.

Luca fired back.

"Move!"

Adrian pulled Elena behind him.

They reached the chapel.

Three armed men appeared.

Adrian fired.

One fell.

Luca took down another.

The third disappeared through the doorway.

Elena saw something on the man's hand.

A silver crown ring.

"Adrian!"

He turned.

"That ring!"

Adrian chased the man through the hallway.

The attacker ran toward the main entrance.

Adrian followed.

They reached the front steps.

The man jumped into a black vehicle.

Adrian fired at the tires.

The vehicle swerved.

But it escaped.

Luca arrived beside him.

"Did you recognize him?"

"No."

Adrian looked at the road.

Then he noticed something.

A piece of paper had fallen from the man's coat.

He picked it up.

One sentence.

MATTEO HAS THE GIRL.

Elena approached.

"What does it say?"

Adrian hesitated.

Then showed her.

Her face went pale.

"Which girl?"

Before Adrian could answer, his phone rang.

Unknown number.

He answered.

A distorted voice spoke.

"You found the contract."

"Where is Matteo?"

"Closer than you think."

"What do you want?"

"Elena."

Adrian's eyes hardened.

"You'll never get her."

The voice laughed.

"You're still thinking like a Moretti."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you believe the girl belongs to you."

Adrian looked at Elena.

The voice continued.

"She belongs to the Crown."

The call ended.

Elena's expression became cold.

"I don't belong to anyone."

Adrian looked at her.

"I know."

She stepped closer.

"Then let's destroy it."

Adrian nodded.

"For the first time..."

He looked at the burning lights of the city in the distance.

"...we agree."

---

Hours later, they returned to the Moretti estate.

Adrian placed the recovered documents on the table.

Luca stood beside him.

Elena remained silent.

The contract lay open between them.

Three families.

One Crown.

One planned marriage.

And twenty-two years of lies.

Then Luca found something hidden beneath the final page.

A small handwritten note.

Adrian read it.

His face changed.

"What?"

Elena asked.

He handed it to her.

The note was written by Alessandro Moretti.

ELENA MUST NEVER KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT HER FATHER.

Elena looked at Adrian.

"My father?"

Adrian shook his head.

"No."

He pointed to the next line.

The note continued:

IF SHE DISCOVERS WHO HER REAL FATHER IS,

THE CROWN WILL COME FOR HER.

Elena's breathing stopped.

"My real father?"

Adrian looked at her.

Before either could speak, the lights in the mansion went out.

A single gunshot echoed through the darkness.

Then a man's voice came from somewhere inside the house.

"Good evening, Adrian."

Adrian recognized it.

Matteo.

His uncle had finally returned.

And he wasn't alone.