Chapter 2 - The Mafia Boss Learned He Was Going to Be a Father, Then Realized My Family Had Been Hunting Me for More Than My Company SharesThe Moretti estate was not what Elena expected.
She expected guards.
There were guards.
She expected weapons.
There were weapons.
She expected marble, gold, intimidating sculptures and enough luxury to make her feel poor.
Instead, the house was strangely warm.
Books filled the walls.
Family photographs covered tables.
A grand piano sat beside a fireplace.
Children's drawings were framed in one hallway.
Elena stopped.
“Who are those?”
Adrien looked.
“My nieces.”
He didn't say much more.
A doctor examined her.
The bleeding was caused by trauma, not a miscarriage.
The baby was stable.
The relief nearly made Elena cry.
When the doctor left, Adrien stood near the window.
“You need rest.”
“I need answers.”
“So do I.”
She looked at him.
“Your father?”
“Dead.”
“Your mother?”
“Alive.”
“Your family knows about me?”
“By now, they probably know you escaped with me.”
Elena swallowed.
“Are they angry?”
Adrien smiled.
“Probably.”
“At me?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
He looked directly at her.
“Everyone.”
Elena almost laughed.
Then the door opened.
An elegant older woman walked in.
She was gray-haired, sharp-eyed and carrying herself with the authority of someone who had buried enough people to stop fearing death.
Elena recognized her from financial magazines.
Lucia Moretti.
Adrien's grandmother.
Lucia looked at Elena.
Then at her stomach.
Then at Adrien.
“You finally brought the girl home.”
Adrien sighed.
“Grandmother.”
Lucia ignored him.
She sat beside Elena.
“What is the child's name?”
“We haven't named her.”
“Good.”
Lucia nodded.
“Names should wait until the family knows whether it deserves them.”
Adrien stared.
Elena almost smiled.
Lucia took her hand.
“You are safe here.”
“I don't know if I belong here.”
Lucia's eyes sharpened.
“Neither did Adrien's mother.”
Elena looked at Adrien.
He looked away.
Lucia continued.
“Family isn't blood.”
“It is behavior.”
That sentence stayed with Elena.
Later, Adrien entered the study carrying a file.
“I have something.”
“What?”
“Your father has been moving money.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He opened the file.
“You know about the debt.”
“I know the company is failing.”
“It isn't simply failing.”
He showed her transactions.
Money leaving Brooks Industrial.
Millions.
Some went to shell companies.
Others to Victor Hale.
But a third stream went somewhere else.
An offshore entity called Northbridge Holdings.
Elena recognized the account numbers.
“This isn't company money.”
“No.”
“It's my trust.”
Adrien looked at her.
“What trust?”
“My mother left me shares.”
“My father said I would get them at thirty-five.”
She stared at the documents.
“I'm thirty-five.”
Adrien nodded.
“Which means your father has been trying to strip those assets before they legally become yours.”
Elena felt sick.
“How?”
“By marrying you to Victor.”
She looked at him.
“What would Victor gain?”
“Control of the debt.”
“And my shares?”
“Your father planned to use the marriage contract to transfer voting authority.”
Elena's stomach turned.
“He wasn't saving the company.”
“No.”
“He was saving himself.”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes.
Then remembered Sabrina.
The ring.
The champagne.
They had been celebrating.
Not negotiating.
Celebrating.
She looked at Adrien.
“Does my sister know?”
“I don't know.”
“I think she does.”
Adrien leaned against the desk.
“There is more.”
He handed her another photograph.
A man she did not recognize stood beside Victor.
She stared.
“Who is that?”
Adrien's expression changed.
“My uncle.”
“What?”
“Gideon Moretti.”
Elena looked closer.
“He's alive?”
“No.”
“When did he die?”
“Twelve years ago.”
She frowned.
“Then why is he with Victor?”
Adrien didn't answer.
Instead he showed her a second image.
It was taken eight weeks ago.
The same man.
Alive.
Elena's blood went cold.
“That isn't possible.”
“I know.”
She looked at Adrien.
“Who is he?”
“Someone using my family's dead man's face.”
Then another thought struck her.
The man who had tried to force her into marriage.
The money moving through Brooks Industrial.
The mysterious person controlling Victor.
This wasn't a family debt.
It was something larger.
Adrien sat opposite her.
“Your father isn't the only person lying.”
Elena looked at him.
“What are you saying?”
“I think someone wanted you married because they needed access to your inheritance.”
“And?”
“And they needed me to react.”
She frowned.
“Why you?”
“Because you're carrying my child.”
Silence.
“Whoever planned this knew about us.”
Elena's face went pale.
“But only you and I knew.”
Adrien shook his head.
“Apparently not.”
Then he opened one final file.
Inside was a photograph.
Elena leaving the bar eight weeks earlier.
She was holding Adrien's hand.
The photograph had been taken from across the street.
Someone had watched them.
Someone had known.
Someone had planned around their meeting.
Adrien's voice dropped.
“This wasn't a coincidence.”
Elena stared at the image.
“What do we do?”
Adrien's answer came immediately.
“We find out who took it.”
“And then?”
His eyes became cold.
“Then they learn the difference between threatening my business and threatening my family.”
Elena's heart skipped.
Family.
He had said it without hesitation.
She looked down at her stomach.
May you like
For the first time, the word did not scare her.
It felt like a possibility.
Related Stories
