Chapter 4 - The Woman They Thought Was LeverageI woke with my hands tied in front of me.
That was the first good thing.
The second was that nobody had taken my shoes.
The third was that I could hear Dante arguing in the next room.
"You said she wouldn't be hurt."
A man's voice answered.
"I said you wouldn't hurt her."
I recognized the voice.
Matteo.
My stomach dropped.
I opened my eyes.
I was sitting on the floor of what looked like an abandoned office.
Dirty windows.
Old filing cabinets.
Exposed pipes.
Somewhere nearby, water dripped steadily.
Dante stood through an open doorway.
Matteo faced him.
Two armed men waited behind Matteo.
"You've got her," Dante said. "Now you give me what you promised."
Matteo smiled.
"You've become impatient."
"I've been working for Luca for eleven years while feeding you information. I think I've earned impatient."
There it was.
Confirmation.
The man who had protected Luca for more than a decade had also betrayed him.
Matteo adjusted his cuff.
"You'll get your money."
"And my son?"
Matteo's expression changed slightly.
Dante had a son.
I hadn't known.
"The records disappear?"
Matteo nodded.
"Your son's debt disappears."
Something clicked into place.
Dante wasn't betraying Luca only for money.
Someone had leverage.
It didn't excuse him.
But it explained him.
Matteo glanced toward me.
"She's awake."
Dante turned.
I stared at him.
He couldn't hold my gaze.
Matteo walked inside.
"Elena."
I said nothing.
"You've caused an extraordinary amount of trouble for someone who arrived only six months ago."
"I get that a lot."
He smiled.
"You understand why Luca likes you."
"I don't care whether you understand anything about Luca."
The smile disappeared.
"Careful."
"That's what everyone keeps telling me."
He crouched.
"Do you know what Luca will do for you?"
"Hopefully nothing stupid."
"He'll bring me the ledger."
"No."
"He will."
"You don't know him."
Matteo laughed.
"I changed his diapers."
"And somehow he survived."
Dante almost smiled.
Matteo noticed.
"Something amusing?"
"No."
Matteo stood.
"You disappoint me, Dante."
Dante stiffened.
"Eleven years beside Luca and you're still sentimental."
"I did everything you asked."
"Not everything."
Matteo pointed toward me.
"She's alive."
Dante's face changed.
"You said leverage."
"Plans evolve."
I stopped breathing.
Dante stepped between us.
"No."
Matteo stared at him.
"Excuse me?"
"You don't kill her."
"Move."
"I said no."
Matteo's two men raised their weapons.
Dante's face went pale.
For one strange second, nobody moved.
Then Matteo sighed.
"This is why desperate men are useful but never trustworthy."
He looked toward his men.
"Take his gun."
Dante didn't fight.
One man removed it.
Matteo turned away.
"Once Luca arrives, neither of them matters."
That was when I realized Matteo had never intended to let Dante leave either.
Dante realized it too.
His eyes found mine.
I didn't need to say anything.
The enemy of my enemy wasn't suddenly my friend.
But he had just become useful.
Matteo left the room.
One guard remained.
Dante sat against the wall opposite me.
For ten minutes, we said nothing.
Then I whispered, "How old is your son?"
His eyes snapped up.
"Don't."
"Matteo mentioned him."
Dante looked toward the guard.
The man was scrolling through his phone.
Dante lowered his voice.
"Twenty-two."
"What debt?"
"Wrong people."
"And Matteo offered to erase it."
"He offered to keep him alive."
"You believed him?"
Dante's jaw tightened.
"I had no choice."
"That's exactly what men like Matteo want you to believe."
He stared at me.
"You don't know anything about choices."
I lifted my bound wrists.
"Interesting time to make that argument."
The guard looked up.
"Shut up."
I did.
For thirty seconds.
Then I looked at Dante again.
"If Matteo kills you, does your son's problem disappear?"
No answer.
"If he kills me, Luca won't stop."
Dante knew that.
"So either Matteo's planning to kill Luca tonight, or he's planning to run."
The guard stood.
"I said shut up."
I smiled.
"Which is it?"
He walked toward me.
That was his mistake.
The second he got close, I kicked him in the knee.
He swore and bent forward.
Dante moved.
Fast.
He slammed his shoulder into the man's chest.
They hit the floor.
I scrambled backward.
The guard reached for his weapon.
Dante struck his wrist.
The gun slid across the concrete toward me.
My hands were tied.
I couldn't pick it up properly.
But I could kick it.
I sent it beneath an old cabinet.
Dante got on top of the guard.
Seconds later, the man stopped fighting.
Dante grabbed a knife from his belt and cut my restraints.
"Come on."
"You just kidnapped me."
"And now I'm unkidnapping you."
"That's not a word."
"It is tonight."
We moved into the hallway.
Voices echoed from downstairs.
Dante pointed toward a rear staircase.
"Go."
"What about Luca?"
"He's coming."
"How do you know?"
"Because Matteo called him."
"What did he demand?"
"The ledger."
I stopped.
"You said Matteo doesn't need it anymore."
"He doesn't."
"Then why call Luca?"
Dante looked at me.
"So Luca comes here."
My blood went cold.
"It's a trap."
Dante nodded.
We heard a vehicle outside.
Then another.
Dante swore.
"Too late."
Luca had arrived.
Downstairs, Matteo's voice echoed.
"Right on time."
I ran toward the railing.
Dante caught me.
"Elena."
"I have to warn him."
"You walk downstairs and Matteo puts a gun to your head."
"Then find another way."
We found one.
An old freight staircase led to a side entrance.
Dante forced the door.
Cold air hit my face.
Outside, Luca's black SUV sat across the lot.
Marco was beside it.
Luca walked alone toward the building carrying the ledger.
Or something that looked like it.
Matteo stepped from a doorway below.
"Where is she?" Luca asked.
"Safe."
"If you've touched her—"
"Still threatening people before asking the important question."
Matteo smiled.
"Just like your father."
Luca held up the black binder.
"You want this?"
"Put it down."
"No."
Matteo's men emerged.
Four.
Then six.
Marco moved near the SUV.
Matteo noticed.
"I said alone."
Luca didn't look back.
"My brother doesn't listen well."
"Apparently neither did your father."
I saw Luca's expression change.
Matteo lifted one hand.
Someone behind Luca raised a weapon.
I screamed.
"Luca!"
He turned.
Everything happened at once.
Marco tackled the gunman nearest the SUV.
Dante fired from beside me.
Luca moved behind a concrete pillar.
Matteo's men scattered.
The gunfire was deafening.
I crouched behind a loading container.
Dante pushed me lower.
"Stay down."
Then I saw Matteo.
He was running toward a side vehicle.
He wasn't looking at Luca.
He was looking at me.
He pointed.
"Dante!"
Dante turned.
Matteo fired.
Dante dropped beside me.
"No!"
I pressed my hands against his shoulder.
He was conscious.
"Go," he gasped.
Luca reached us moments later.
His hands found my face.
"Elena."
"I'm okay."
He looked at the cut on my wrist.
"You're bleeding."
"It's nothing."
"Where did he hurt you?"
"He didn't."
Luca looked at Dante.
Dante laughed weakly.
"Technically, I did kidnap her."
Luca's eyes became ice.
"I'll deal with you later."
"Get in line."
Marco ran toward us.
"Matteo's gone."
Luca looked across the lot.
A vehicle disappeared through the far gate.
Marco cursed.
Then Luca's phone rang.
He answered.
No one spoke on the other end at first.
Then Luca's face changed.
"Who is this?"
A distorted voice said something.
Luca went pale.
He put the phone on speaker.
Matteo's voice filled the night.
"You chose the girl."
Luca stared into the darkness.
Matteo continued.
"So I chose someone you should've protected first."
A video arrived.
Luca opened it.
Isabella DeSantis sat tied to a chair.
A bruise marked her cheek.
Behind her was a blue wall.
She looked directly into the camera.
And said one sentence.
"Luca, don't give him what he wants."
The video ended.
Matteo sent another message.
TWELVE HOURS.
May you like
BRING ME EVERYTHING.
OR THIS TIME YOU LOSE YOUR MOTHER.
Related Stories
