Chapter 2 - My Sister Was Marrying Into His World
By the time Ethan’s car stopped outside my sister’s house, I had asked him the same question four different ways.
“What does Dominic actually do?”
Every time, Ethan gave me some version of the same answer.
“You should ask Dominic.”
By the fifth attempt, I snapped.
“If a man tells me my sister is marrying someone dangerous, I think I’m entitled to details.”
Ethan sat across from me in the rear seat.
Sophie slept in her car seat between us.
“I said dangerous?”
“You said operation.”
“In my world, accounting can be dangerous.”
“That is not comforting.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
“Do you enjoy this?”
“What?”
“Being vague.”
“Yes.”
At least he was honest.
Chicago slid past the windows.
I had not visited in seven years.
Everything looked familiar and foreign at the same time.
Brick buildings.
Late-night diners.
Dark streets glittering under frozen October rain.
I had grown up in a small apartment near Pilsen with Elena and our mother.
Our father died when I was nine.
Mom worked hotel laundry, cleaning offices, whatever kept food on the table.
When I was nineteen, she became sick.
When I was twenty-two, she died.
Elena was seventeen.
I became more parent than sister.
And like most people forced into parenthood before they know themselves, I made mistakes.
I was controlling.
Critical.
Terrified.
Elena wanted college in New York.
I told her we could not afford it.
She wanted to move in with a boyfriend at nineteen.
I told her she was making the same mistakes Mom warned us about.
She accused me of trying to run her life.
I accused her of being ungrateful.
Then I moved to Los Angeles for work.
Calls became texts.
Texts became holiday messages.
Holiday messages became almost nothing.
Now she was getting married.
Apparently to a man who worked for a reputed Mafia boss.
Maybe I had been under-reacting all these years.
Ethan watched me.
“You’re thinking too loudly.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Your face does.”
“My sister is marrying one of your criminals.”
“Allegedly.”
I stared.
He sighed.
“Dominic is loyal.”
“To you.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“He doesn’t hurt women.”
I froze.
“That is an extremely specific character reference.”
Ethan’s eyes hardened.
“In my world, specifics matter.”
I looked away.
“What does he know about Elena?”
“Everything he needs to.”
“That is another terrible answer.”
“What do you want me to tell you?”
“That my sister is safe.”
Ethan paused.
“From Dominic?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
The confidence in his voice mattered.
“From your world?”
He looked out the window.
“That answer is harder.”
My stomach tightened.
The car stopped in front of a three-story brick house decorated with white flowers and warm lights.
Cars lined the street.
A banner hung across the porch.
WELCOME FAMILY.
I almost laughed at the irony.
The door opened before I reached it.
Elena stood there in silk pajamas and slippers.
For one terrible second, neither of us moved.
She looked older.
Not old.
Just adult.
My little sister had become twenty-seven without me watching.
Her dark hair was longer.
Her cheeks thinner.
Her eyes exactly the same.
“Rachel?”
My throat closed.
“Hi.”
Then she ran down the steps.
We collided halfway.
She hugged me so hard Sophie protested between us.
“Oh my God, the baby!”
Elena pulled back.
Her eyes filled.
“That’s Sophie?”
“No, I borrowed a random infant.”
She laughed and cried at the same time.
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
Then she looked behind me.
And froze.
Ethan stood beside the car.
No coat.
Black sweater.
Two guards behind him.
Elena’s face went pale.
“Mr. Callahan.”
The title was not casual.
I noticed.
Ethan did too.
“Congratulations, Elena.”
“Thank you.”
She looked at me.
Then him.
Then his coat around my shoulders.
Her eyebrows nearly reached her hairline.
“No.”
I immediately removed it.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Whatever thought just entered your head.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.”
A man appeared in the doorway.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Clean suit despite the hour.
Dominic Moretti.
I recognized him from Elena’s photographs.
He came down the steps.
When he saw Ethan, his expression changed instantly.
“Boss.”
Not Mr. Callahan.
Boss.
My stomach sank.
Ethan’s gaze moved to him.
“Your fiancée apparently forgot to mention your résumé.”
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
Elena whispered, “Oh no.”
I looked between them.
“You knew?”
Elena grabbed my arm.
“Rachel, come inside.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No, because every time someone tells me to go inside tonight, I discover another crime family.”
Ethan coughed.
I turned.
“Do not laugh.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You absolutely were.”
Dominic looked terrified.
Not of me.
Of Ethan’s amusement.
That told me more than I wanted to know.
Elena reached for Sophie.
“Can I?”
I hesitated.
Then handed her over.
The moment Sophie settled against her aunt, Elena’s entire face softened.
“She’s beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“I can’t believe you came.”
The words hurt.
“I said I would.”
“You’ve said things before.”
I flinched.
Elena regretted it immediately.
“Rachel—”
“No. It’s okay.”
It wasn’t.
But family reunions apparently required emotional landmines.
Dominic opened the door.
“Let’s get everyone inside.”
Ethan said, “I’m leaving.”
I turned too quickly.
Why did that disappoint me?
It shouldn’t.
He was a stranger.
A dangerous stranger.
A stranger who had held my baby so I could sleep.
“You’re leaving?”
His eyes met mine.
“You’re with family.”
Right.
Family.
Elena shifted Sophie.
“Mr. Callahan, you’re welcome to come in.”
Dominic’s face said absolutely not.
Ethan noticed.
“Thank you. I have somewhere to be.”
He looked at me.
“My number.”
I frowned.
“What?”
He handed me a black card.
Only a phone number.
No name.
No company.
No title.
Of course.
“If you need anything.”
“I won’t.”
His mouth curved.
“Probably not.”
“You think I’m helpless?”
“No.”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“I think you’re the kind of person who would rather drown than admit the water reached your neck.”
That hit harder than I liked.
“I’m fine.”
“There it is again.”
He walked toward the car.
I watched.
Then he stopped.
Turned.
Looked at Dominic.
“Tomorrow. Ten.”
Dominic nodded immediately.
“Yes, boss.”
The SUVs disappeared down the street.
I turned to my sister.
“Inside.”
She winced.
“Rachel—”
“Now.”
Twenty minutes later, Sophie was asleep in a borrowed bassinet upstairs while Elena, Dominic, and I sat around the kitchen table.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, I looked at Dominic.
“What do you do for Ethan?”
Elena said, “Rachel—”
“No.”
Dominic put a hand over Elena’s.
“I should answer.”
“Yes, you should.”
He inhaled.
“I manage several clubs, restaurants, and distribution businesses.”
“Legal?”
“Mostly.”
I stared.
“That word should never follow legal.”
He almost smiled.
I did not.
“Do you hurt people?”
“Rachel!”
“It’s fair,” Dominic said.
He looked directly at me.
“I have.”
Elena closed her eyes.
My blood went cold.
“Recently?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“My life was different.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He nodded.
“You’re right.”
His hand stayed over Elena’s.
“I grew up in this organization. My father worked for Ethan’s father. I made choices when I was younger that I would not make now.”
“Does Elena know?”
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“Everything?”
Her chin lifted.
“Enough.”
“That sounds familiar.”
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t come here after five years and start treating me like I’m seventeen again.”
The words landed exactly where she meant them to.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I’m worried.”
“You’re always worried.”
“Because bad things happen.”
“I know that better than you think.”
Something in her voice changed.
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Elena looked at Dominic.
Dominic went still.
“Nothing.”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“What happened?”
Elena looked away.
There was a small scar near her wrist.
I had noticed it before.
I had assumed kitchen accident.
Now I wasn’t sure.
“Elena.”
She sighed.
“Last year, someone followed me.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Why?”
“Because of Dominic.”
My chair scraped backward.
“You were targeted?”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“It was handled.”
“Handled?”
“Rachel.”
I stood.
“Someone targeted my sister and now she’s marrying the reason?”
Elena stood too.
“I am marrying the man who saved me.”
“That doesn’t make this normal!”
“I never said it was normal!”
Sophie began crying upstairs.
Instantly, every argument stopped.
I went for the stairs.
Elena followed.
I turned.
“Give me a minute.”
Her face fell.
I regretted it.
But I kept walking.
Upstairs, Sophie fussed until I picked her up.
I sat on the edge of the guest bed.
My hands were shaking again.
What had I done?
I flew across the country because I thought I was repairing my relationship with Elena.
Instead, I learned her fiancé belonged to a world dangerous enough to get her followed.
And somehow Ethan Callahan—the man at the center of that world—had become the person I trusted most in Chicago.
That realization terrified me.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I opened the message.
You left my coat in the car.
I stared.
Then typed:
Good.
A response came immediately.
You’re still awake.
That is none of your business.
Correct.
Three dots appeared.
Then:
Is the baby okay?
I looked down at Sophie.
Yes.
Another pause.
And you?
I almost typed fine.
Stopped.
Deleted it.
Then wrote:
I don’t know.
The phone rang instantly.
I stared at it.
Answered.
“You didn’t have to call.”
“I know.”
His voice sounded different over the phone.
Closer.
“Dominic told you?”
“Enough.”
“Are you angry?”
“At him?”
“At your sister.”
I frowned.
“Why would I be angry at Elena?”
“Because fear sometimes dresses itself as anger.”
I hated how accurately he read me.
“You’re very philosophical for a mob boss.”
“Reputed mob boss.”
“Right.”
Silence.
Then I asked, “Is she safe?”
“Yes.”
“You said that before.”
“I meant it.”
“Can you guarantee it?”
“No.”
The honesty hurt.
“But I can tell you Dominic would die before letting someone hurt her.”
“That sentence is supposed to help?”
“No.”
He sounded tired.
“What is happening tomorrow at ten?”
Silence.
“Ethan.”
“Dominic is bringing me information.”
“What information?”
“Nothing involving you.”
“That means Elena?”
Another silence.
My heart sped up.
“What is it?”
“Rachel.”
“Tell me.”
His voice lowered.
“A man associated with the group that targeted Elena last year was seen in Chicago yesterday.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
“And you were going to keep this from me?”
“I met you six hours ago.”
“You told me to call if I needed anything.”
“Yes.”
“I need the truth.”
He was silent for so long I thought the call dropped.
Then he said, “The truth is that somebody may be watching your sister again.”
I closed my eyes.
“And the wedding?”
“Will happen if Dominic and Elena want it to.”
“That sounds reckless.”
“You don’t know enough yet.”
“Then tell me.”
“No.”
I nearly shouted.
“Why?”
“Because right now you have a six-month-old daughter sleeping in your arms.”
I froze.
His voice softened.
“You are not part of this world.”
“My sister is.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m her family.”
“Yes.”
“So I’m already part of it.”
Another long silence.
When Ethan spoke again, something in his voice had changed.
“That is exactly what I was afraid you would say.”
The next morning, I learned why.
At 9:12, Elena disappeared.
May you like
Her phone was found in the alley behind the house.
And the only thing left beside it was a photograph of Sophie.
