Chapter 3 - The Mafia Family Learned the Wrong Woman Was Hiding Their Heir
By dawn, the city was awake.
And my name was already in the hands of men who had killed for less.
We moved again before sunrise.
Leo insisted.
I argued.
He won because he was bleeding and still somehow terrifyingly persuasive.
We found an abandoned farmhouse at the edge of the river.
Leo collapsed onto the kitchen floor.
I locked every door.
Then looked at him.
“You need a hospital.”
“No.”
“You need surgery.”
“No.”
“You need a miracle.”
“Probably.”
I stared.
“You're impossible.”
“So I've been told.”
I searched the house.
There were blankets.
Canned food.
A wood stove.
A small generator.
Someone used the place occasionally.
Leo watched me.
“It's safe.”
“Nothing is safe.”
“Exactly.”
I made him soup.
He stared at the bowl.
“I've never had homemade soup.”
“You're twenty-nine.”
“I've had soup.”
“Not homemade?”
“My staff cooked.”
“That's not the same.”
He took one sip.
His eyebrows rose.
“Good.”
I smiled despite myself.
It surprised me.
I had forgotten what it felt like to smile.
We ate in silence.
Then Leo asked:
“Why did you start working at Blackwood?”
I looked down.
“My sister.”
He waited.
“She was injured.”
“I know.”
I stiffened.
“How?”
“I know everything about the people who work for me.”
“That doesn't sound creepy at all.”
He almost smiled.
“She has medical debt.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
I laughed.
“Why?”
“Answer.”
“Eighty-four thousand.”
Leo looked at me.
“That's what you said.”
I froze.
“When?”
“The first night.”
I hadn't realized I had mentioned it.
“You were half-conscious.”
“I remember everything.”
“Then you remember me complaining.”
“Yes.”
“About the house.”
“Yes.”
“About my shoes.”
“Yes.”
“About you.”
“Yes.”
I stared.
“Great.”
He smiled.
Then became serious.
“You shouldn't have been dragged into this.”
“I know.”
“I’ll get you out.”
“How?”
“I'll clear your name.”
“They know me.”
“I'll make sure they forget.”
I shook my head.
“I don't want anyone controlling my life.”
He studied me.
“You're right.”
“Don't say that like it's surprising.”
“It is.”
I sat opposite him.
“Tell me about your uncle.”
His expression changed.
“Matteo believes my father is weak.”
“Is he?”
“No.”
“Then why does he think that?”
“Because my father wants out.”
I stared.
“Out of what?”
“The organization.”
I hadn't expected that.
“The Morettis have been trying to go legitimate for years.”
“Then why didn't they?”
“Because every illegal operation is tied to someone.”
“Bribes.”
“Judges.”
“Police.”
“Politicians.”
“Other families.”
I sighed.
“And the ledger?”
Leo looked at me.
“You've heard of it.”
“Yes.”
“Did you see it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because now they're going to assume you know where it is.”
I laughed.
“I'm a housekeeper.”
“You’re no longer invisible.”
That sentence hurt.
Because it was true.
For years, invisibility had been my survival.
Now I was standing at the center of a war.
The farmhouse door rattled.
Leo stood immediately.
“Stay back.”
“What?”
He checked the window.
Three vehicles.
No.
Four.
He pulled his gun.
“Wait.”
I touched his arm.
“Don't.”
He looked at me.
“You told me to stay.”
“I did.”
“Then stay.”
The doors opened.
Men surrounded the farmhouse.
I recognized one.
Samuel.
He stepped onto the porch.
“Leo.”
Leo didn't answer.
Samuel sighed.
“Your father is alive.”
Leo's expression changed.
“Where?”
“Come with me.”
“And Leora?”
Samuel smiled.
“She comes too.”
I felt cold.
Leo stepped closer to the window.
“You don't touch her.”
Samuel's smile disappeared.
“You have no position to make demands.”
“I always have a position.”
Samuel laughed.
“You sound like your father.”
“That should scare you.”
“It does.”
Then Samuel said the one thing that changed everything.
“Your mother left you a letter.”
Leo froze.
“My mother died.”
“Yes.”
“She couldn't leave anything.”
“She did.”
“Where?”
“With Leora.”
I stared at Leo.
“What?”
Samuel smiled.
“Ask her about the silver pendant.”
I touched my neck.
The pendant my mother had given me.
The pendant I had worn since childhood.
My mother's last gift.
I looked at Leo.
He looked stunned.
Samuel laughed.
“Now you understand.”
Then he walked away.
Leo turned toward me.
“What did your mother tell you?”
“Nothing.”
“You have the pendant.”
“Yes.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
He stared.
“Why?”
“Because nobody gets to take something from me just because they're powerful.”
His expression softened.
“Leora.”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Then keep it.”
He sat.
I touched the pendant.
For the first time, I wondered why my mother had always told me:
Never let anyone see the back.
I turned it over.
A tiny symbol was engraved there.
The Moretti crest.
My blood ran cold.
Leo saw it.
He whispered:
“That's impossible.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“My mother owned that symbol.”
“And?”
May you like
He stared.
“Your mother wasn't who you thought she was.”
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