Chapter 5 - MY EX CAME BACK WITH A WARNING
Michael looked terrible.
Bruised face.
Dirty jacket.
Blood on his lip.
Two of Dante’s men had him seated in a warehouse office.
I stood outside the door.
“You don’t have to do this,” Dante said.
“Yes, I do.”
“Elena.”
“He sold me.”
Dante studied my face.
Then opened the door.
Michael looked up.
His eyes widened.
“Elena.”
I hated how familiar my name sounded in his mouth.
“You look good.”
“Don’t.”
He swallowed.
“I didn’t know they’d hurt you.”
“You sold my address.”
“I was desperate.”
“You followed me.”
“I needed money.”
“You always needed money.”
His face twisted.
“I messed up.”
“You pawned my engagement ring.”
“I know.”
“You drained our savings.”
“I know.”
“You disappeared while men threatened me.”
“I know!”
His voice cracked.
Then he lowered it.
“I know.”
I felt nothing.
That surprised me.
Three years earlier, seeing him again would have broken me.
Now he just looked small.
“What does Caruso want?”
Michael looked at Dante.
Dante leaned against the wall.
Quiet.
Deadly.
Michael looked back at me.
“He wants the boy.”
I went cold.
“Matteo?”
“He wants Dante to lose control.”
Dante’s face did not move.
Michael continued quickly.
“The restaurant was supposed to scare him. Not kill him.”
“Broken glass over a child?”
“I didn’t plan it!”
“You gave them my schedule.”
“I didn’t know they’d use you.”
“Then why did you follow me?”
His silence gave me the answer.
“You did know.”
“Elena—”
I slapped him.
Hard.
His head snapped sideways.
My palm burned.
I didn’t care.
“You knew.”
“I needed to clear my debt.”
“So you sold me.”
“I thought they’d just grab you.”
“Just?”
My voice broke.
“You thought strangers kidnapping me was acceptable?”
“I was going to warn you.”
“When? After they put me in a trunk?”
Michael looked away.
I wanted to hit him again.
Instead, Dante stepped between us.
“Tell her the rest.”
Michael went pale.
“What rest?”
Dante’s voice was quiet.
“The reason Caruso chose Elena.”
Michael started shaking.
“I can’t.”
Dante took one step closer.
“You can.”
Michael looked at me.
There was fear in his eyes.
Real fear.
Not of Dante.
Of what he was about to say.
“Elena, your father wasn’t who your mother told you he was.”
My breath stopped.
“My father died when I was seven.”
“No.”
Michael swallowed.
“He disappeared.”
The room tilted.
“What?”
“His name wasn’t Carlos Ramirez.”
I stared at him.
Michael whispered the words.
“His name was Gabriel Serrano.”
Dante straightened.
That name meant something to him.
I saw it immediately.
“What?”
Dante didn’t answer.
“Who is Gabriel Serrano?”
Michael looked between us.
Then he said, “The man who betrayed Dante’s father twenty years ago.”
I turned toward Dante.
His eyes had gone completely black.
And suddenly I understood why Caruso wanted me so badly.
May you like
I wasn’t only the woman who saved Matteo.
I was the daughter of a traitor.
