Chapter 3 - My Mother’s Locked Room
We arrived at my mother's apartment before noon.
The police had already been there.
Too late.
The door had been forced open.
Drawers emptied.
Photographs scattered.
The bedroom overturned.
I ran inside.
“Mom?”
No answer.
Nico caught my arm.
“Don't move.”
“My mother!”
“Wait.”
He motioned to two men.
They cleared the apartment.
“Empty.”
I rushed into the kitchen.
A cup sat on the counter.
Still warm.
“She was here.”
Nico looked around.
“Search everything.”
I opened drawers.
Cabinets.
Closets.
Nothing.
Then I remembered the room I had never been allowed to enter.
The small locked room behind the bedroom closet.
“What is that?”
Nico asked.
“My mother never let me inside.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
The lock was old.
I looked at it.
Nico handed me a tool.
I stared.
“You want me to break into my own mother's room?”
“You're the only person who may know what's inside.”
I forced the lock.
The door opened.
Inside were boxes.
Photographs.
Letters.
Newspaper clippings.
And one large metal safe.
I stared.
“My father.”
Nico stepped inside.
There was a photograph of him.
Young.
Smiling.
Standing beside Nico's father.
I picked it up.
“I was told they never knew each other.”
“Someone lied.”
I opened a box.
Inside were letters.
The first was dated fifteen years earlier.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, Rocco knows.
I froze.
Nico read over my shoulder.
The letter continued.
He believes you hid the key with your daughter.
Do not trust anyone.
Not even the Bellandis.
Nico stepped back.
“What?”
I looked at him.
“Your family.”
“My father's family.”
The distinction mattered.
There was another letter.
To Lena.
Baby girl,
One day you will be old enough to understand why I left.
I didn't leave because I stopped loving you.
I left because I was trying to make sure you lived long enough to hate me.
Tears filled my eyes.
Nico stood silently.
The letter continued.
The key is not for a door.
It's for a ledger.
And the ledger contains proof that can destroy Rocco.
I looked up.
“Where is the key?”
The answer was in the next line.
Your mother has it.
My heart pounded.
“Mom took it.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Nico.
“Then whoever came here has taken her.”
“We'll find her.”
The phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
My mother's voice.
“Lena.”
“Mom!”
“Don't listen to them.”
“Where are you?”
A man's voice came on.
“You have twenty-four hours.”
I froze.
“Who are you?”
“Ask Nico about his father.”
The call ended.
I turned toward him.
“What did his father do?”
Nico looked like someone had punched him.
“My father ordered Daniel's death.”
Silence.
“You said he disappeared.”
“I thought he did.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
I stepped back.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I didn't know your father was alive.”
“Then who killed him?”
“I don't know.”
“Convenient.”
He didn't defend himself.
Instead, he said:
“Your mother has the key.”
“How do we get it?”
“We trade.”
“For what?”
“Me.”
I stared.
“What?”
He walked toward me.
“Rocco wants me.”
“Why?”
“Because I took his territory.”
“And now?”
“He wants his son back.”
I frowned.
“His son?”
“Not me.”
He looked at the photograph.
“My younger brother.”
My stomach dropped.
“You have a brother?”
“I thought he was dead.”
“But?”
“He isn't.”
The story became darker.
Rocco had another son.
Luca Bellandi.
He had been hidden after a family war.
Now he had returned.
And he wanted control.
Including the ledger.
We found my mother that night.
A warehouse in Queens.
Nico led the operation.
I stayed in the car.
Then I heard gunfire.
I ran.
I found my mother tied to a chair.
Nico was fighting three men.
One of them was Tommy.
I stared.
“You.”
He looked at me.
“Sorry, Lena.”
Nico moved.
One punch.
Tommy dropped.
My mother cried.
“Get the key.”
I ran to her.
“Where is it?”
She looked at me.
“I gave it to your father.”
“He's alive?”
“Yes.”
I froze.
“Where?”
My mother's voice broke.
“He's been watching you.”
Then another gunshot.
The room went dark.
Nico grabbed my hand.
“Run.”
We ran through the back.
Behind us, the warehouse exploded in flames.
May you like
My mother's final words echoed in my mind.
He's been watching you.
