Chapter 2
1462 Words
The House of De Luca
The first thing Elena noticed after the gunfire stopped was the ringing in her ears.
For several seconds, she couldn't hear anything else.
She was still crouched behind Alessandro, one hand gripping the back of his jacket. She didn't even remember grabbing him.
Then she realized what she was doing and let go.
"Are they gone?"
Alessandro looked down at her.
"For now."
"For now?" Elena repeated. "That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"No."
At least he was honest.
He glanced toward the hotel corridor. Two of his men were already moving through the room, checking doors and windows while another spoke quietly into an earpiece.
Elena stood.
Her knees felt weak, but she refused to let him see it.
"I'm leaving."
Alessandro's eyes returned to her.
"No."
She stared at him. "Excuse me?"
"You heard the gunshots."
"Yes, I was there."
"Then you understand why you can't walk out of here."
"I understand that someone shot at us. I also understand that I have absolutely no idea who you are beyond what I've heard on the news and what people say about you."
"And yet you're still arguing with me."
"Because you're telling me I can't leave my own life."
Something shifted in his expression.
Not anger exactly.
More like surprise.
Most people probably didn't talk to him that way.
Elena didn't care.
Her entire evening had gone from delivering a file to witnessing a murder, getting shot at, and being told by a stranger that she was now in danger.
She was allowed to be angry.
"I have a friend waiting for me," she said. "She's going to be worried."
"Call her."
Elena pulled out her phone.
There were already three missed calls from Mia.
Her stomach tightened.
She immediately called back.
Mia answered before the first ring had even finished.
"Elena? Where the hell are you? I've been calling you for—"
"I'm okay."
There was silence.
Then, "You don't sound okay."
"I'm fine."
"That's exactly what people say when they're not fine."
Elena closed her eyes briefly.
"I'll explain everything later."
"No. Explain now."
Elena looked at Alessandro.
He was standing a few feet away, speaking quietly to one of his men.
"I can't."
"Elena—"
A hand appeared in front of her.
Alessandro.
He held out his phone.
She stared at it.
"What?"
"Give me yours."
"Why?"
"Because your phone may be compromised."
She almost laughed.
"Of course it is."
"Elena."
The way he said her name made her stop.
Not because he sounded threatening.
Because he sounded serious.
She handed him the phone.
He typed something quickly before giving it back.
"What did you do?"
"Blocked the unknown number."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You could have asked."
"You would have said no."
"Exactly."
For the first time, the corner of his mouth moved.
It wasn't quite a smile.
But it was close.
Elena hated that she noticed.
Mia was still on the phone.
"Elena? Who are you with?"
Alessandro took the phone from her before she could answer.
"I'm Alessandro De Luca."
There was a long silence.
Then Mia said, "You're what?"
Elena covered her face.
Of course.
Of all the things he could have done, he had to introduce himself.
"She's safe," Alessandro said. "She's with me."
"Why is Elena with you?"
"I'll explain when she's somewhere secure."
"Put Elena back on the phone."
He did.
Mia's voice immediately dropped.
"Who is this man?"
"I'll tell you everything."
"You better."
The call ended.
Elena stared at Alessandro.
"You enjoy making my life difficult, don't you?"
"I haven't had enough time to enjoy anything."
Despite herself, she almost smiled.
Almost.
Then she remembered the dead man upstairs.
The smile disappeared.
"What happens now?"
Alessandro looked toward the hotel entrance.
"You're coming with me."
"Where?"
"My house."
"No."
"Elena—"
"I'm not going to some stranger's house."
"You've already seen too much."
"And somehow your solution is kidnapping me?"
"My solution is keeping you alive."
"I can keep myself alive."
"You couldn't even see the men who were shooting at you."
That shut her up.
She hated that he was right.
Alessandro stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"Your apartment has been watched for three days."
Elena frowned.
"What?"
"We found the same vehicle near your building yesterday and again this morning."
"How do you know where I live?"
"I know a lot about you."
That answer made her skin crawl.
She took a step back.
"That's not comforting."
"It wasn't meant to be."
He turned toward the waiting car.
"Come with me."
Elena stood there for another few seconds.
She wanted to run.
She wanted to call the police.
She wanted to wake up and discover that none of this had happened.
But someone had tried to kill her.
And somehow, the only person who seemed to know why was the man she had walked in on holding a gun.
She followed him.
Not because she trusted him.
Because she had run out of safer choices.
The De Luca estate was nothing like Elena expected.
It was enormous.
Stone walls. Tall iron gates. Security cameras everywhere.
The kind of place that didn't look like a home so much as a private fortress.
Elena stared through the car window as they drove inside.
"How many people live here?"
"Not many."
"Then why does it need all this security?"
Alessandro glanced at her.
"You know why."
She looked away.
Right.
Mafia boss.
She was beginning to understand why people whispered his name.
The car stopped in front of the house.
Before Elena could open the door, someone was already waiting outside.
An elegant woman in her fifties stood at the entrance.
Her eyes moved from Alessandro to Elena.
Then she froze.
It lasted only a second.
But Elena noticed.
The woman's expression had changed.
Recognition.
It was unmistakable.
"Who is she?" the woman asked.
"Elena Moretti."
The woman's face went completely still.
Elena's stomach tightened.
They had never met.
At least, Elena was almost certain they hadn't.
The woman looked at Alessandro.
"You brought her here?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"She's in danger."
The woman ignored him and looked directly at Elena.
There was something strange in her eyes.
Not curiosity.
Not surprise.
Something closer to fear.
"You shouldn't have brought her into this house," she said quietly.
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
"Aunt Isabella."
Isabella looked at him.
"You don't know who she is."
Elena's heart skipped.
Alessandro's expression hardened.
"Then tell me."
Isabella didn't answer.
Instead, she turned and walked back into the house.
Elena watched her go.
"That was normal," she muttered.
Alessandro looked at her.
"Don't worry about Isabella."
"She looked at me like she'd seen a ghost."
He didn't respond.
Which somehow made it worse.
A few minutes later, Elena was shown to a bedroom in the east wing.
The room was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
Huge bed. Sitting area. Private bathroom. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the gardens.
Elena dropped her bag onto the chair.
"I don't belong here."
She said it quietly.
But she believed it.
She took out her phone and called Mia again.
This time, she told her everything.
Not every detail.
She didn't mentioned the messages yet.
She wasn't even sure what they meant.
When the call ended, Elena sat on the edge of the bed.
Her hands were shaking.
She stared at them.
"Get yourself together."
She whispered the words like she could force herself to believe them.
Then her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Her stomach dropped.
She opened the message.
ASK ALESSANDRO WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER.
Elena stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
AND ASK HIM WHY HE WAS THERE THE NIGHT MARCO MORETTI DIED.
She stopped breathing.
Her father's name.
Marco Moretti.
She hadn't heard anyone mention him in years.
Not like this.
Her father had died when she was seven.
A car accident.
At least, that's what she'd always been told.
She barely remembered him.
Just fragments.
His hands.
His voice.
The smell of his jacket when he hugged her.
And sometimes, when she tried hard enough, a room she couldn't place.
A table.
Someone was shouting.
Her father's face.
Elena slowly stood.
Her phone slipped from her fingers and landed on the bed.
Alessandro had said he knew a lot about her.
Isabella had looked at her like she already knew her.
And now someone was telling her Alessandro had been there the night her father died.
For the first time since she entered that hotel room, Elena wasn't thinking about the murder she had witnessed.
She was thinking about the one thing she'd spent most of her life trying not to think about.
Her father.
And suddenly, she wasn't sure she'd ever been told the truth about how he died.
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