My Family Used Me to Settle Their Debt—I Never Expected the Mafia Boss to Open His Arms
Chapter 1
The first time Elena Carter realized her family had sold her, there was a red dress hanging over the back of a chair.
She stared at it while her mother stood behind her.
“Put it on.”
Elena slowly turned.
“Why?”
Her mother wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Because we’re leaving.”
“Where?”
No answer.
Elena looked around the small apartment.
Her father’s empty chair.
Her brother’s boots by the door.
Her little sister’s schoolbag on the floor.
Everything looked normal.
That was what frightened her.
“Mom?”
Her mother finally spoke.
“The Delacroix family is coming.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
Everyone in their part of the city knew the Delacroix name.
They owned nightclubs, restaurants, shipping companies, warehouses.
And people whispered that they also owned things that never appeared on official records.
Crime.
Weapons.
Money.
Fear.
Elena had never seen the head of that family.
Luca Delacroix.
The mafia boss.
Some said he was thirty-five.
Some said forty.
Some said he had killed three men with his bare hands.
None of the stories agreed.
But all of them agreed on one thing.
You didn’t cross Luca Delacroix.
Elena’s father had somehow managed to do exactly that.
For months, collectors had come to the apartment.
Threats had been left under the door.
Her father’s business had collapsed.
The debt had grown.
Then, three nights earlier, two men had arrived.
They didn’t threaten anyone.
They simply gave her father a choice.
Pay.
Or give them something worth paying for.
Elena had assumed they meant the apartment.
She had been wrong.
Her mother took Elena’s hand.
“Put the dress on.”
Elena pulled away.
“What did Dad do?”
Her mother started crying.
“What did he do?”
“He borrowed money.”
“How much?”
Silence.
Elena’s father appeared in the doorway.
His face looked ten years older.
“Forty thousand?”
He shook his head.
“Four hundred?”
Another shake.
Elena’s voice broke.
“How much?”
“Two million.”
The room went silent.
Elena stared at him.
“You owe two million dollars?”
Her father nodded.
“And you can’t pay it.”
“No.”
“Then what happens?”
Her father couldn’t look at her.
Elena suddenly understood.
“No.”
Her mother began crying harder.
“No, what?”
“You’re going to give me to them.”
Her father whispered:
“They asked for you.”
Elena stepped backward.
“I’m your daughter.”
“I know.”
“You’re supposed to protect me.”
“I tried.”
“You’re selling me!”
Her father covered his face.
“I don’t have a choice.”
Elena laughed in disbelief.
“You always have a choice.”
A black car stopped outside.
Two men got out.
Her mother pushed the red dress toward her.
“Please.”
Elena looked at the dress.
Then at her family.
Then at the door.
Her little sister appeared in the hallway.
“Where are you going?”
Elena swallowed her tears.
“Somewhere for a little while.”
“Why?”
“I’ll come back.”
Her sister smiled.
Elena almost broke.
Because she knew she might never come back.
The front door opened.
A man in a black suit entered.
“Ms. Carter.”
Elena stood straight.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Delacroix is waiting.”
She looked at her father.
He still couldn’t meet her eyes.
Elena walked outside.
The city air felt cold.
The black car waited.
She got inside.
After twenty minutes, the driver stopped outside an enormous mansion behind iron gates.
Elena stepped out.
The door opened before she could knock.
A man was standing at the top of the stairs.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Black suit.
One hand resting casually against the railing.
His eyes were calm.
Too calm.
Luca Delacroix.
Elena looked at him.
He looked at her.
Then his expression changed.
Not desire.
Not triumph.
Something else.
Disbelief.
He walked down the stairs.
“Your father sent you?”
Elena lifted her chin.
“He sold me.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“He did what?”
“He said you wanted me as payment.”
Luca stared at her.
Then turned to his men.
“Who told him that?”
Nobody answered.
Luca looked back at Elena.
“You’re not payment.”
She laughed bitterly.
“That’s not what your people told him.”
He stepped closer.
“You don’t belong to me.”
Elena’s eyes filled with tears.
“Then why am I here?”
Luca’s voice became quiet.
“Because someone lied to both of us.”
