Chapter 2 - The Mafia Boss Who Terrified Manhattan Hid Me in His Bedroom Because Someone Had Already Broken Into My ApartmentThe attack lasted seven minutes.
It felt like seven years.
Adrian moved through the penthouse with terrifying efficiency.
No shouting.
No panic.
No wasted movement.
His men appeared from hidden doors as though the walls themselves had produced them.
Someone fired through the windows.
Someone else breached the lower garage.
Three guards were injured.
One was dead.
I stayed behind a marble column while Adrian returned fire.
When silence finally came, my hands were shaking so badly I couldn't hold the phone.
Adrian noticed.
He came toward me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Look at me.”
I did.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He lowered his gun.
“Good.”
I swallowed.
“Was this because of me?”
“Probably.”
“Then I'll leave.”
“No.”
“They'll keep attacking.”
“Yes.”
“So I should go.”
“No.”
He was completely calm.
“You're safer here.”
I laughed.
“You say that like this place wasn't just attacked.”
His eyes hardened.
“It was attacked because you're here.”
I stared.
“That isn't reassuring.”
“It wasn't meant to be.”
He walked away.
I followed.
“Where are you going?”
“To secure the house.”
“I want answers.”
“You'll get them.”
“When?”
“After I make sure you survive the night.”
I hated how much I trusted those words.
Maybe because they were simple.
Maybe because he didn't promise me comfort.
Only survival.
Later, after the building was secured, Adrian brought me to a bedroom.
It was enormous.
Dark wood.
Cream sheets.
A balcony overlooking the city.
I stared.
“This is yours.”
“Yes.”
“Where will you sleep?”
“Somewhere else.”
“Why?”
“Because you're frightened.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I know.”
He set a glass of water on the nightstand.
Then his gaze dropped to my bruised wrist.
He frowned.
“Marcus did that?”
I nodded.
His expression became colder.
“Did he hurt you before tonight?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Months.”
“Why didn't you leave?”
“I tried.”
“And?”
“He always found me.”
Adrian was quiet.
Then:
“He won't again.”
I believed him.
That was dangerous.
A few hours later, I woke from a nightmare.
I was seven again.
The cemetery.
Rain.
My mother crying.
My father's coffin.
I sat up.
Someone knocked.
Adrian stood at the doorway.
“You okay?”
I wiped my face.
“Yes.”
He didn't believe me.
But he didn't force me to explain.
He sat in a chair across the room.
“Your father used to work nights.”
I looked at him.
“You remember him.”
“Yes.”
“What was he like?”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“Annoying.”
I almost laughed.
“He used to tell me to stop drinking coffee.”
“Sounds like him.”
“He taught me chess.”
“You played?”
“I lost.”
“Really?”
“Every time.”
I smiled.
“You must have been terrible.”
“I was fourteen.”
“So?”
He laughed softly.
It was the first time I'd heard him laugh.
Then he said:
“Your father was one of the few people who spoke to me like I was still a kid.”
I looked at him.
“You were.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Everything changed.”
He stood.
“Your father found the ledger.”
“And?”
“He gave it to my father.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed my father could protect the information.”
“Could he?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“My uncle betrayed him.”
I sat forward.
“Who?”
“Salvatore DeLuca.”
“The man who disappeared?”
“He isn't missing.”
I froze.
“He's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because I have spent eleven years hunting him.”
The room went silent.
“Does he know about me?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Yes.”
My heart dropped.
“How?”
“He was there the night your father disappeared.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What happened?”
Adrian sat again.
“There was an argument.”
“Between whom?”
“Your father.”
“My uncle.”
“And my father.”
“Then?”
“Your father escaped.”
“My father survived.”
“Yes.”
“But you said my father gave you the ledger.”
“I said he tried.”
I looked at him.
“What happened to the ledger?”
“Half of it disappeared.”
“The other half?”
Adrian's gaze dropped to my necklace.
“Maybe you have it.”
I touched the pendant.
“This?”
“Your mother gave it to you.”
“She said it belonged to my grandmother.”
“She lied.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
I opened it.
The tiny paper inside was still there.
TRUST NO ONE. EXCEPT HER.
I stared at the name.
“Who is her?”
Adrian looked confused.
“I don't know.”
“It's signed.”
“Yes.”
“Your mother?”
“No.”
“Mine?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
He shook his head.
“We have to find out.”
The next morning, Adrian gave me a phone.
A different one.
Secure.
“Keep this.”
“Another expensive phone?”
“Encrypted.”
“My phone works.”
“Your phone is compromised.”
“How do you know?”
He showed me a report.
My old phone had been accessed remotely eleven times.
My location had been tracked.
My messages copied.
My camera activated.
I felt sick.
Marcus had been watching me.
For how long?
“Can he see me now?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I killed the connection.”
I stared.
He leaned closer.
“You're safe.”
Then the phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice whispered:
“Little Bird.”
My blood froze.
My father.
“Dad?”
“You went to DeLuca.”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn't have.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because he will kill you.”
I looked at Adrian.
My father continued:
“You are carrying something that doesn't belong to you.”
“What?”
“The key.”
“The key to what?”
“The Black Crown.”
The line cut out.
I turned to Adrian.
“What is the Black Crown?”
He went completely still.
“That name hasn't been spoken in eleven years.”
“Then you know it.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
He looked at me.
“A private ledger.”
“Your father?”
“No.”
“My father?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Adrian's voice became quiet.
“The man who controls half the people who control this city.”
I swallowed.
“Who?”
“Salvatore.”
My uncle.
The man who had supposedly disappeared.
And suddenly, I understood why my father had been afraid.
Someone wasn't hunting the ledger.
May you like
They were hunting me.
Because I had unknowingly become the key to it.
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