My Family Used Me to Settle Their Debt—I Never Expected the Mafia Boss to Open His Arms
Chapter 2
Luca ordered everyone out of the room.
Elena stayed standing.
She refused to sit.
Refused to cry.
Refused to show fear.
Luca noticed.
“You can sit.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know what happens when I do.”
His expression softened.
“You think I’m going to hurt you.”
“You’re a mafia boss.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“It does.”
Luca almost smiled.
Almost.
He poured himself water.
Then placed a glass across from her.
“You haven’t eaten.”
“I don’t want anything from you.”
“Fair.”
He sat.
“What exactly did your father tell you?”
“That I was settling his debt.”
“And?”
“That you would marry me.”
Luca went completely still.
“Marry you?”
Elena nodded.
“He said the debt would disappear.”
Luca looked away.
“Your father was never authorized to make that agreement.”
“Then why did your men come for me?”
“I didn’t send them.”
Elena frowned.
“Who did?”
Luca didn’t answer.
He picked up his phone.
“Rafael.”
A man entered.
“Yes, boss.”
“Find out who contacted the Carters.”
“Already working on it.”
“Find out who told them Elena was payment.”
Rafael nodded.
“And the debt?”
“Freeze it.”
Rafael looked surprised.
“Completely?”
“Yes.”
He left.
Elena stared at Luca.
“You’re not taking the money?”
“No.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Because your father put you in danger.”
“You could send me home.”
“No.”
She glared.
“Why not?”
“Because whoever lied to your father still wants something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Luca stood.
“But I’m going to find out.”
He walked toward the door.
Elena called after him.
“Wait.”
He turned.
“If you’re not keeping me here, where am I supposed to go?”
“Stay here tonight.”
“I don’t need charity.”
“It isn’t charity.”
“What is it?”
“Protection.”
She crossed her arms.
“From whom?”
Luca looked at her.
“Possibly the people who sold you.”
The words hit harder than she expected.
Her own family.
Selling her.
Luca left.
A woman named Sofia came in.
She was older, elegant, and kind.
“He’s not good at explaining himself,” she said.
Elena looked at her.
“Who are you?”
“House manager.”
“Do you work for him?”
“Yes.”
“Are you afraid of him?”
Sofia smiled.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he has never frightened the people who know him.”
Elena frowned.
Sofia pointed toward the hallway.
“Come.”
She showed Elena a bedroom.
Large.
Warm.
Safe.
Elena looked suspiciously at it.
“You can lock the door from inside.”
She stared.
“Why would he let me?”
“Because he wants you to understand something.”
“What?”
Sofia smiled.
“You are a guest.”
That night, Elena couldn’t sleep.
She kept remembering her father’s face.
His lowered eyes.
His silence.
At 2:00 a.m., she heard voices downstairs.
She opened the door.
Luca was speaking to a man.
“Two million wasn’t the real debt.”
Elena stopped.
The man replied:
“We found another account.”
“How much?”
“Nothing in cash.”
“What then?”
“A ledger.”
Luca’s expression darkened.
“Whose?”
The man handed him a file.
“Your father’s.”
Elena froze.
Luca looked up.
He saw her standing at the top of the stairs.
His face changed.
She slowly walked down.
“Your father?”
Luca closed the file.
“What did you hear?”
“You said ledger.”
“Yes.”
“My father had something to do with your father?”
Luca looked at her.
“Maybe.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your father might have known mine.”
Elena’s blood ran cold.
“My father isn’t important.”
Luca stared.
“Maybe that’s exactly what someone wanted you to believe.”
