He Used Me As Inventory, I Saved My Sister

Chapter 1

I pressed my back against the cold wall.

The glass of milk trembled in my hands.

"Sera."

Don Matteo Falcone's voice carried through the heavy walnut door of his study.

Gentle.

The same tone he used when calling me downstairs for breakfast.

"Come in."

I didn't move.

My mind was trapped on one phrase.

Optimal compatibility range.

As if he were discussing fruit ripening in an orchard.

Ready for harvest.

Except the fruit was me.

And my sister Lily.

"Sera."

He called again.

This time, the door opened by itself.

Falcone stood in the doorway.

Fifty-something.

Silver-gray hair combed perfectly back.

The familiar charcoal velvet robe draped across his broad frame.

A glass of red wine rested in his hand.

His eyes dropped briefly to the puddle of spilled milk at my feet.

"You dropped it."

He sighed softly.

Like a father disappointed by a clumsy child.

"Come inside."

"It's cold out here."

I looked at him.

I'd been looking at that face for twelve years.

For twelve years, I believed it belonged to the only person I could depend on.

When I was eight years old, a "car accident" took my mother away.

Falcone brought me and my five-year-old sister Lily into this estate.

He hired the finest tutors.

Bought us the most expensive piano money could buy.

Every birthday came with a custom-made cake.

Every holiday with lavish gifts.

All of New York knew the ruthless Don Falcone had two weaknesses.

The orphaned girls he had adopted.

For years, I thought that weakness was love.

"You heard me."

It wasn't a question.

He took a sip of wine and stepped aside.

"Since you've already heard it..."

"We should talk."

I walked into the study.

I knew I couldn't run.

The estate housed forty soldiers.

Three layers of electronic security.

The nearest highway was nearly a mile away.

I couldn't even make it past the front lawn.

Falcone settled into his leather chair and gestured toward the seat opposite him.

I remained standing.

"What does it mean?"

My voice shook.

"Compatibility range."

"Sit down, Sera."

"What does it mean?!"

It was the first time I had ever shouted at him.

Silence filled the room.

Three long seconds.

Then Falcone smiled.

A genuine smile.

Almost proud.

"You've grown up."

He placed the wineglass down and leaned forward.

"Do you want the truth?"

"Or do you want the version that lets you sleep tonight?"

I clenched my fists.

"The truth."

"Good."

The desk lamp cast golden light across his eyes.

They gleamed like coins.

"You're not my daughter."

"Lily isn't either."

"Twelve years ago, I acquired both of you from someone who no longer needed daughters."

My stomach turned.

"From that day on, every nutritional supplement you drank was designed to keep your bodies..."

He paused.

"in peak condition."

My breathing stopped.

"What does that mean?"

"Peak condition?"

Falcone stood and crossed to a large oil painting hanging on the wall.

He pressed a hidden switch.

The painting slid aside, revealing a massive steel safe embedded in the wall.

He didn't open it.

He simply turned back toward me.

"There are people in this world wealthy enough to buy entire cities."

"But money can't purchase a healthy heart."

"A perfect liver."

"Clean bone marrow."

A smile touched his lips.

"I can."

He spoke slowly.

"I own the finest donor inventory in the United States."

"The youngest."

"The healthiest."

"The most genetically compatible."

His eyes met mine.

"And that inventory..."

"is you."

My world shattered.

I drank those supplements for twelve years.

When I caught a cold, he stayed by my bedside.

When I practiced piano poorly, he'd frown.

When I succeeded, he'd smile.

I thought it was fatherly love.

It wasn't.

He was maintaining an investment.

A machine.

"Why tell me now?"

The voice that emerged from my throat barely sounded like my own.

"Because keeping the secret serves no purpose anymore."

Falcone returned to his chair.

Calm.

Collected.

Monstrous.

"Lily's liver is scheduled for delivery next month."

The room spun.

"And you..."

His gaze lingered on me.

Like an artist admiring a masterpiece nearing completion.

"I've been saving your heart for a very long time."

"It belongs to a very important client."

I staggered backward into a bookshelf.

Hardcover books crashed onto the floor around me.

I turned and bolted for the door.

Falcone didn't even stand.

He simply spoke.

Quietly.

"There are four men outside."

"You won't leave this estate."

I froze.

Trembling.

Then turned back to look at the man I'd called Papa for twelve years.

"I hate you."

Falcone smiled.

He opened a drawer and removed a small metal pill case.

Inside lay a row of pale blue tablets.

"You haven't taken tonight's supplement yet."

He slid the case across the desk.

"Be good."

"Take it."

"Get some sleep."

"When you wake up tomorrow, tonight will feel like nothing more than a nightmare."

His smile widened.

"You'll go back to being my perfect daughter."

"Both of you will."