My Family Used Me to Settle Their Debt—I Never Expected the Mafia Boss to Open His Arms
Chapter 4
The abandoned warehouse was empty.
But someone had been there recently.
Boxes.
Fresh tire tracks.
A coffee cup still warm.
Rafael searched the office.
“Nothing.”
Luca opened a desk drawer.
Inside was a small envelope.
Elena stood beside him.
He opened it.
A birth certificate.
Her name.
Elena Marie Carter.
Date of birth.
The same date she knew.
Everything looked normal.
Then Luca turned the page.
A second birth certificate.
Same name.
Different date.
Different hospital.
Elena felt sick.
“Which one is real?”
“We need to know.”
She stared at the two documents.
“My mother told me I was born at Saint Mary’s.”
The second said Mercy Hospital.
Elena remembered something.
A scar on her shoulder.
She had always thought it came from a childhood accident.
She touched it.
“Luca.”
“What?”
“I have a scar.”
“Where?”
She showed him.
He examined it.
“That’s surgical.”
“My mother said it was from a fall.”
“That’s a lie.”
Elena’s breathing quickened.
“What happened to me?”
“I don’t know.”
Then they heard footsteps upstairs.
Rafael raised his gun.
“Stay behind me.”
They climbed.
A man ran down the hall.
Rafael chased him.
Luca grabbed Elena’s hand.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
She followed.
They cornered the man near a loading door.
He turned.
Elena recognized him.
It was her father’s accountant.
“Mr. Walsh?”
He looked terrified.
“Ms. Carter.”
“What happened?”
He shook his head.
“Your father told me to disappear.”
“Why?”
“Because they knew about the child.”
Elena’s voice trembled.
“What child?”
The accountant looked at Luca.
Then at Elena.
“You.”
Silence.
Luca stepped forward.
“Tell us everything.”
The man swallowed.
“Your father didn’t owe two million.”
“How much?”
“Nothing.”
Elena stared.
“He had assets worth more than the debt.”
“Then why did he pretend?”
“Because the debt wasn’t financial.”
“What was it?”
The accountant looked at Elena.
“He was paying for your life.”
Her heart stopped.
“What?”
“When you were five, someone tried to take you.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“The second birth certificate?”
He nodded.
“You were moved.”
“Why?”
“Because someone wanted you gone.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
The accountant shook his head.
“I only know one name.”
“What name?”
“Gabriel Voss.”
Luca went silent.
Elena saw the reaction.
“Who is that?”
“The man my father fought for years.”
“Your father’s enemy?”
“No.”
Luca looked at the accountant.
“Worse.”
The man continued.
“Gabriel wasn’t trying to kill Elena.”
“Then what?”
“He wanted her father to give him something.”
“What?”
“The ledger.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“What ledger?”
“The ledger that records every person your family paid to protect you.”
Elena stared.
“Why would someone pay to protect me?”
The accountant looked away.
“Because you were never the reason.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were the witness.”
Elena froze.
“Witness to what?”
The accountant opened his mouth.
A gunshot shattered the window.
He fell.
Luca grabbed Elena and pulled her down.
Rafael fired toward the parking lot.
The attacker disappeared.
The accountant was still alive.
Barely.
Elena knelt beside him.
“Stay with me.”
He grabbed her wrist.
“You have to remember.”
“What?”
He whispered:
“The house.”
“What house?”
“Your first home.”
Then he died.
Elena stared at him.
Luca crouched beside her.
“We’re going back.”
“Where?”
“To your childhood home.”
She shook her head.
“That apartment?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“The first home you don’t remember.”
