My Family Used Me to Settle Their Debt—I Never Expected the Mafia Boss to Open His Arms
Chapter 3
The next morning, Elena received a phone call from her younger sister.
“Are you okay?”
Elena smiled despite herself.
“I’m okay.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m staying somewhere.”
“Mom says you’re helping Dad.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Did Mom tell you anything else?”
“She said everything is going to be fine.”
Elena almost laughed.
It wasn’t.
But she couldn’t tell her sister the truth.
Not yet.
After the call, Luca entered.
He held two cups of coffee.
“One’s black.”
Elena looked surprised.
“How did you know?”
“Your father told us you hate sugar.”
“My father remembers that?”
“He remembered a lot about you.”
Elena took the cup.
“Why?”
Luca sat opposite her.
“Because you may be more important to this than anyone realized.”
She frowned.
“More important how?”
He slid a file across the table.
Inside was a photograph.
Two men stood beside a warehouse.
One was Luca’s father.
The other was Elena’s father.
Elena stared.
“I’ve never seen this.”
“It was taken eighteen years ago.”
Her father looked much younger.
The two men appeared close.
“Were they partners?”
“Yes.”
“In what?”
“Shipping.”
Elena looked at the date.
“That was before I was born.”
Luca nodded.
“My father’s company nearly collapsed that year.”
“So did ours.”
“Exactly.”
Elena looked at him.
“What happened?”
“My father blamed yours.”
“For what?”
“Missing money.”
She turned the page.
Bank records.
Transfers.
A shell company.
The same company appeared in Elena’s father’s old business records.
“What is this?”
“We don’t know.”
“Then why show me?”
“Because there’s something else.”
He handed her a second photograph.
A woman stood beside the two men.
Young.
Beautiful.
Elena’s mother.
Elena dropped the photograph.
“My mother?”
Luca nodded.
“My mother is there too.”
Elena looked closer.
Four people.
Her parents.
Luca’s parents.
And something about the picture felt wrong.
Her mother was holding a baby.
A baby with a silver bracelet.
Elena stared.
“That’s me?”
“No.”
She looked at Luca.
“You?”
He shook his head.
“My mother didn’t have another child.”
“Then who?”
They turned the photograph over.
A handwritten note appeared.
Protect the child until the debt is paid.
Elena felt cold.
“What debt?”
Luca’s face hardened.
“I don’t know.”
Then another photograph slipped from the folder.
A little girl.
About five.
Same silver bracelet.
Elena stared.
She knew that child.
It was her.
But the photograph was taken years before Elena believed she had been born.
She looked at Luca.
“That can’t be me.”
“That’s why I kept it.”
“Maybe the date is wrong.”
“Maybe.”
He looked at her.
“Or maybe your family has lied to you about something much bigger than money.”
Before Elena could answer, Rafael rushed inside.
“Boss.”
Luca stood.
“What?”
“We found the man who contacted Elena’s father.”
“Who?”
Rafael hesitated.
“Your uncle.”
Luca’s face changed.
“My uncle died ten years ago.”
“That’s what everyone thought.”
A silence filled the room.
Elena looked at Luca.
“Someone in your family is alive?”
Rafael nodded.
“He’s been operating through shell companies.”
Luca’s voice became cold.
“Where?”
“Outside the city.”
“Get the cars.”
Rafael left.
Elena stood.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“I need answers.”
“It isn’t safe.”
She looked at him.
“My family sold me.”
Her voice cracked.
“I think my whole life is a lie.”
Luca stared at her.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
He picked up his coat.
“But you stay beside me.”
Elena followed.
On the drive, Luca said almost nothing.
Then, halfway there, he asked:
“Do you remember your childhood?”
“Yes.”
“Any memories before you were five?”
Elena thought.
“No.”
Luca looked at her.
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
