Chapter 3 - The Mafia Boss Who Saved Me Had One Rule—I Could Stay Under His Roof Only If I Stopped Trying to Discover Why He Loved My FamilyI barely slept.
Every noise woke me.
Every shadow looked like the man in the black coat.
Noah's security team guarded every floor.
At 6:30 a.m., he knocked on my door.
“Come in.”
He entered with two coffees.
“You drink black?”
I smiled.
“You remembered.”
“I remember everything.”
I took the cup.
“Thank you.”
He sat.
“You need to understand something.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He looked serious.
“You don't.”
“What?”
“Silvio won't stop.”
“Then I'll leave.”
“No.”
“You can't keep me here forever.”
“I don't plan to.”
“What do you plan?”
“To find the ledger's owner.”
“I am the owner.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You're the carrier.”
“What does that mean?”
“The ledger belongs to a trust.”
“Whose?”
“Your family.”
“But my grandfather is dead.”
“Your grandfather's dead.”
“The trust isn't.”
I stared.
“What does it control?”
“Property.”
“Money.”
“Political contacts.”
“Companies.”
“Everything.”
“How much?”
“Billions.”
I laughed.
“I'm a broke tailor.”
“That is exactly why they won't expect you.”
He paused.
“Your father kept you poor on purpose.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“To make you invisible.”
“From whom?”
“The people who would come looking.”
I went downstairs.
My father was there.
“You lied to me.”
“I protected you.”
“Everyone says that.”
He sighed.
“I didn't know how to tell you.”
“You could have told me the truth.”
“You were happy.”
“I was not.”
“I thought you were safe.”
I looked at him.
“Was Mom safe?”
His eyes filled.
“No.”
“What happened?”
“She died because she tried to expose Silvio.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“She found the ledger.”
“And?”
“Silvio wanted it.”
“He came after her.”
“Your grandfather hid it.”
“Then why did Mom have it?”
“Because he trusted her.”
“And Dad?”
“I helped.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because after your mother died, Silvio disappeared.”
“We thought he was dead.”
“And you were afraid he'd come back.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Noah.
“What happened between our families?”
My father answered.
“Your mother loved Noah's father.”
I froze.
Noah looked away.
“What?”
“They were close.”
“Romantically?”
“Yes.”
I stared.
“My mother loved your father?”
Noah nodded.
“They were supposed to leave Chicago.”
“But they didn't.”
“My father was killed.”
“And your mother stayed.”
“No.”
“She helped my father expose the network.”
“Then Silvio killed her.”
Noah's voice was quiet.
“I promised your father I'd protect her daughter.”
I looked at him.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“That's why you asked about my boyfriend.”
He didn't answer.
“You knew someone was watching me.”
“Yes.”
“You've known about me for years.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you ever come see me?”
“Because your father asked me not to.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed anyone close to you would become a target.”
I laughed.
“I already became one.”
“I know.”
Then one of the guards ran in.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found Silvio's driver.”
“Where?”
“In the alley behind the old shop.”
“Alive?”
“No.”
Noah's face hardened.
“Someone is cleaning up.”
“Who?”
The guard handed him a phone.
On the screen was a message.
LENA DOESN'T NEED TO DIE.
SHE JUST NEEDS TO REMEMBER.
I stared.
“Remember what?”
Noah looked at me.
“Something from childhood.”
I closed my eyes.
A memory came.
A red door.
A basement.
My mother crying.
My grandfather yelling.
A man with a silver ring.
I opened my eyes.
“I remember.”
“What?”
“The night my grandfather disappeared.”
Noah leaned closer.
“What happened?”
“My mother gave someone the ledger.”
“Who?”
“I couldn't see his face.”
“What else?”
“He had a silver ring.”
Noah froze.
“What kind?”
“A wolf.”
He looked at his hand.
No ring.
Then he whispered:
“My father wore one.”
I stared.
“Your father.”
“Yes.”
“But my father told you he died.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“My father disappeared the same night as your grandfather.”
Everything changed.
The two men hadn't disappeared separately.
They had vanished together.
And maybe they hadn't been enemies.
Maybe they had been allies.
Noah stood.
“We're going to the old house.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where it started.”
May you like
He looked at me.
“And that's where we'll find what your mother hid.”
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