The Wrong Person
1082 Words
The moment I saw the man standing across the warehouse, my stomach dropped.
I knew him.
I had seen him at dinner.
He had been sitting across from me, quietly eating while Damiano’s family asked questions about my life.
I couldn’t remember his name.
But I remembered his face.
“Stay behind me,” Damiano said.
His voice was calm, but there was something different about it now.
I stepped closer to my brother instead.
“Daniel.”
He looked at me, breathing heavily.
“Elena, you need to leave.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
I started working on the rope around his wrists.
My fingers were shaking so badly that I could barely untie the knot.
“Who did this to you?”
He looked toward the other side of the warehouse.
“Don’t look.”
I froze.
“Why?”
“Just don’t.”
That was when I heard footsteps.
Someone was coming.
I quickly moved behind Daniel.
Damiano stepped forward.
“Show yourself.”
A man walked out from behind one of the pillars.
It was the same man from dinner.
He wasn’t holding a gun.
He didn’t need to.
The way he looked at Damiano was enough to make the entire room feel dangerous.
“Damiano,” he said calmly.
Damiano’s expression hardened.
“Adrian.”
So that was his name.
Adrian smiled.
“You’re looking well.”
“You kidnapped her brother.”
“I prefer to call it a conversation.”
Damiano’s jaw tightened.
“You have five seconds to explain.”
Adrian laughed.
“Still giving orders.”
He looked at me.
Then at Daniel.
“You should have stayed out of this, Elena.”
I stood straighter.
“I don’t even know what this is.”
“That’s the problem.”
Damiano moved slightly in front of me.
“Don’t talk to her.”
Adrian’s smile disappeared.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
He looked at me again.
“Do you know why you’re really here?”
I frowned.
“Because you took my brother?”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
“You’re here because Damiano needs you.”
I looked at Damiano.
He didn’t say anything.
My heart began beating faster.
“Needs me for what?”
Adrian laughed quietly.
“Ask him.”
I turned toward Damiano.
“What is he talking about?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
I stared at him.
“Stop saying that.”
His eyes met mine.
“Elena”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You’ve been telling me that since the beginning. Everything is a secret. Everything is dangerous. Everything is for my protection.”
My voice cracked.
“And now my brother is tied to a chair.”
Damiano’s expression changed.
I had never seen him look so conflicted.
Adrian watched us with obvious amusement.
“She deserves to know.”
Damiano looked at him.
“You’ve said enough.”
“No. I haven’t.”
Adrian reached into his jacket.
Damiano immediately raised his gun.
“Don’t.”
Adrian stopped.
Then he slowly pulled out a small envelope.
He dropped it onto the floor.
“Ask him about her mother.”
My heart stopped.
My mother’s name hadn’t been mentioned in years.
I looked at Damiano.
“What does my mother have to do with this?”
He didn’t answer.
“Damiano.”
Still nothing.
Adrian smiled.
“Interesting, isn’t it?”
I bent down and picked up the envelope.
Damiano stepped toward me.
“Don’t open it.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because you don’t know what’s inside.”
“That’s exactly why I want to know.”
I opened the envelope.
There was a photograph inside.
It was old.
The edges were worn.
I looked at it once.
Then again.
My hands began trembling.
My mother.
She was standing beside a man I didn’t recognize.
But there was something else.
A little girl stood between them.
Me.
I stared at the photograph.
I couldn’t breathe.
“Where did you get this?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
I looked at Damiano.
He looked away.
That hurt more than anything.
“You knew.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“Elena…”
“You knew about my mother.”
He took a step toward me.
“I knew something.”
“How much?”
He said nothing.
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Adrian’s voice came from behind me.
“Now you understand why he chose you.”
I turned.
“What does that mean?”
Before Adrian could answer, a gunshot echoed through the warehouse.
Everyone ducked.
Damiano grabbed me and pulled me to the ground.
His arm wrapped around me as another shot rang out.
“Stay down.”
“Daniel”
“I’ll get him.”
He moved quickly.
I crawled toward my brother.
“Daniel!”
“I’m okay.”
I pulled at the rope again.
This time, it came loose.
He nearly fell forward.
I caught him.
“Can you walk?”
“I think so.”
“Then we’re leaving.”
We started moving.
Suddenly, I heard someone shout.
Then silence.
I looked back.
Damiano was standing in the middle of the warehouse.
Adrian was gone.
My eyes met Damiano’s.
Neither of us spoke.
He walked toward me.
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
Damiano nodded.
Then he looked at me.
“Give me the photograph.”
I held it tightly.
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“Elena.”
“You knew.”
“I told you I knew something.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He stepped closer.
“I was trying to protect you.”
I shook my head.
“Stop using that excuse.”
He went quiet.
I looked at the photograph again.
My mother’s face stared back at me.
There were too many questions.
Too many things that suddenly didn’t make sense.
Why had Damiano chosen me?
Why had Adrian said he needed me?
And why did my mother appear to have known the Romano family?
I looked at Damiano.
“Who was that man standing beside my mother?”
His face became unreadable.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“My father.”
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