GUARDED BY MY POSSESSIVE MAFIA BROTHERS

Chapter 3: The Key in My Purse

“It was only coffee.”

Dante stared at me as rainwater slid from the edge of the mansion roof behind him. His expression remained calm, but I knew that kind of calm. It was the silence before he destroyed something.

“Only coffee?” he repeated.

“Yes.”

“With Noah Carter?”

“You already have a photograph, so why did you ask?”

“I wanted to know whether you would lie to me.”

“And now you know.”

Luca lowered his phone. “Perhaps we should continue this conversation inside.”

“I’m perfectly comfortable here,” I said.

“You’re getting wet.”

“So are you.”

“I’m not the one who catches a cold whenever the weather changes.”

Dante stepped aside. “Inside. Now.”

The entrance hall was crowded with guards, but they disappeared the moment Dante looked at them. Within seconds, only my brothers and I remained beneath the crystal chandelier.

I kept my purse pressed against my side.

The silver key inside felt impossibly heavy.

Dante removed his wet jacket and handed it to Luca.

“Why was Carter at the café?”

“He wanted to see me.”

“Why?”

“You should ask him.”

“I intend to.”

A chill moved through me. “Leave Noah alone.”

“That depends on his answers.”

“You have no right to interrogate my friends.”

Dante’s eyes hardened. “A man returns after ten years, arranges a secret meeting with my sister, and somehow knows exactly where she will be. I have every right to ask questions.”

“He knew because I told him.”

“Before or after someone disabled our security?”

The question struck too close to the secret I was hiding.

I forced myself not to touch my necklace.

“Noah had nothing to do with that.”

“You sound very certain,” Luca said.

“I’ve known him since I was a child.”

“You knew him when he was a child,” Dante corrected. “You know nothing about the man he has become.”

“Neither do you.”

“I know he works for Carter Strategic Holdings.”

“That’s his father’s company.”

“I know they provide private security, intelligence gathering, and political risk assessments. I also know Noah spent four years working with their operations team in London.”

I looked at Luca. “Did you investigate him before or after you photographed us?”

“Before,” Luca admitted.

“You had someone following me.”

“We had someone protecting you.”

“He took pictures through a café window!”

“He was documenting a security concern.”

“I was hugging an old friend, not exchanging nuclear codes.”

Dante’s gaze dropped to my purse.

“What did he give you?”

My fingers tightened around the strap. “Nothing.”

“The photograph shows his hand closing around yours.”

“He touched me. People do that when they aren’t emotionally frozen.”

“Elena,” Luca warned softly.

“What did he give you?” Dante repeated.

“Nothing.”

“Give me the purse.”

My heartbeat became painful, but I stepped backward.

“No.”

Dante extended his hand, just as he had done in my bedroom on my birthday.

“Give it to me.”

“You don’t own me.”

“This is not about ownership.”

“Everything with you is about ownership. Where I go, who I meet, what I wear—you think all of it belongs to you.”

“I’m trying to keep you alive.”

“From coffee?”

“From people who know you are the easiest way to hurt this family.”

Luca moved between us before I could respond.

“Dante, stop.”

“Move.”

“You’re frightening her.”

“I’m not frightened,” I said.

Luca looked at my white-knuckled grip on the purse. “Of course not.”

Dante’s hand remained outstretched. “If Carter gave you nothing, there is no reason to refuse.”

“And if you trust me, there is no reason to search it.”

“This is not a negotiation.”

“It is now.”

For several seconds, neither of us moved. The air between us felt sharp enough to cut. I wondered whether Dante would order a guard to take the purse from me.

Then Luca sighed.

“Fine. Let me check it.”

I turned toward him. “Whose side are you on?”

“Yours, usually. It’s exhausting.”

“I don’t need you to search my things.”

“Then show us yourself.”

The key pressed against the purse lining like a secret heartbeat. If I refused again, Dante would become more suspicious. If I opened the bag, he would find the first clue my mother had left me.

I needed time.

“My phone is upstairs,” I said. “Do you want to search that too?”

“If necessary,” Dante replied.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“And you’re avoiding the question.”

“I’m tired of your questions!”

I threw the purse onto a chair harder than necessary and turned toward the staircase.

“Elena,” Dante called.

“I got the job today, in case either of you cares.”

Luca’s expression softened. “You got it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Is it? Because neither of you congratulated me.”

“I did not know,” he said.

“You were too busy having me followed.”

Dante glanced at the purse, but Luca caught his arm before he could move.

“Let her go.”

“She’s hiding something.”

“She’s angry.”

“She’s both.”

I climbed the staircase without looking back. My legs felt weak, yet I forced myself to walk slowly until I reached the upper hallway.

The moment I disappeared from their view, I ran.

I entered my bedroom and locked the door. My purse was still downstairs, but the key was no longer inside it.

During the drive home, I had slipped it beneath the lining of my coat pocket.

I pulled it out with shaking fingers.

Locker 214.

My mother asked my father to protect this.

Don’t let Dante find it.

A knock sounded against my door.

“Ellie?” Luca called.

I hid the key inside a small tear beneath my mattress before opening the door.

Luca entered carrying my purse.

“Did Dante search it?”

“No.”

“You did?”

“I checked it for weapons, tracking devices, secret husbands, and unhealthy snacks.”

“And?”

“You’re disappointingly innocent.”

Relief loosened the tightness in my chest. “I told you Noah gave me nothing.”

“No, you lied about him giving you nothing. I simply didn’t find it.”

My relief disappeared.

Luca closed the door behind him.

“What was it?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You left your purse downstairs deliberately. You wanted Dante to search it.”

“Why would I want that?”

“So he would believe you had nothing to hide.”

I crossed my arms. “Maybe there was nothing.”

“You also kept touching the left side of your coat in the car.”

For a man who treated everything like a joke, Luca noticed far too much.

“Were you watching me the entire way home?”

“No. Marco was.”

“Of course he was.”

“He said you kept checking your pocket.”

“Maybe my hand was cold.”

“Elena.”

“Luca.”

He rubbed a hand over his face. “You are going to get me killed.”

“That seems dramatic.”

“Dante asked me to search your room.”

My body went still. “And you’re warning me?”

“I’m giving you one chance to tell me what Carter gave you.”

“Why?”

“Because I would rather hear it from you than watch Dante tear this room apart.”

“He wouldn’t do that.”

Luca raised an eyebrow.

“Fine,” I muttered. “He would.”

“What did Noah give you?”

I studied my brother’s face. He looked worried, but he had looked worried on my birthday too. Regret and fear had lived behind his eyes from the moment the unknown sender mentioned my birth.

“First, answer one question.”

“That depends on the question.”

“Was Mother pregnant with me?”

All color disappeared from Luca’s face.

The reaction gave me more than words ever could.

“Why would you ask that?”

“Answer me.”

“You’ve seen pictures of her.”

“I’ve seen pictures of her hiding behind tables, wearing loose dresses, or standing sideways.”

“You’re imagining things.”

“Then say she was pregnant.”

Luca looked toward the window.

“Say it,” I demanded.

“I’m not discussing this with you.”

“You mean you won’t lie directly to my face.”

“Elena, stop.”

“Why is my birthday wrong?”

His head snapped toward me. “What?”

“The photograph from the hospital was dated October seventeenth.”

He became dangerously still.

I stepped closer. “You know which photograph I mean, don’t you?”

“Where did you see it?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It matters more than you understand.”

“Was the baby me?”

“Who sent it?”

“Was it me?”

Luca caught my shoulders. “Listen to me. If that person contacts you again, you tell me immediately.”

“Why?”

“Because they are trying to manipulate you.”

“With the truth?”

“With pieces of it.”

The words silenced me.

“Pieces of what truth?”

He released me as if he had realized he had said too much.

“I need to speak with Dante.”

“No.”

I blocked the door.

“Elena, move.”

“Not until you answer me.”

“I can’t.”

“You mean Dante won’t allow you.”

“This isn’t about permission.”

“Everything in this house is about his permission.”

“You don’t know what happened back then.”

“Then tell me!”

Luca’s eyes glistened with an emotion I had rarely seen in him.

“You were a baby. There were people looking for you.”

“Who?”

“I’ve already said too much.”

“Am I your sister?”

His face broke.

“Of course you are.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

“You are my sister in every way that matters.”

My breath caught painfully. “So we aren’t related.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Elena, please.”

I stepped away from the door. “Get out.”

“Let me explain.”

“You just said you couldn’t.”

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“That’s what Dante always says before taking away another piece of my life.”

Luca’s shoulders lowered. For once, he had no joke and no clever answer.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Are you sorry you lied, or sorry I found out?”

He left without answering.

I locked the door again and leaned against it, fighting tears.

My brothers had not denied it.

The anonymous sender was telling the truth.

I moved toward the bed and reached beneath the mattress. The key remained hidden where I had placed it. Its metal edge dug into my palm as I stared at the label.

Locker 214 might contain the answer Luca refused to give me.

My phone vibrated on the nightstand.

An unknown number had sent another message.

This time, there was no photograph.

Only a warning.

Do not trust Noah Carter. He knows why your real mother died.

A second message appeared before I could respond.

And if you want what is inside Locker 214, go tonight.

Dante has already sent someone to empty it.

I looked at the key in my hand.

From the hallway came Dante’s voice.

“Open the door, Elena.”

I backed away as the handle moved.

“I know Carter gave you a key.”

The silver key suddenly felt like the most dangerous object in the world.

And my brother was standing on the other side of the only exit.