Chapter 5 - THE CHILD'S DRAWING
The heavy silence in the warehouse felt suffocating.
"Your father?" Elena whispered, her fingers tracing the familiar silver beads of the rosary.
Adrien nodded, his pale eyes entirely focused on her face. "Three years ago, my father was still the head of the Russo family. He was ruthless. He was expanding our territory, and your parents saw a shipment they shouldn't have seen. He ordered Silvio to silence them."
Elena felt sick. She gripped Tommy’s arm tighter. "And you?"
"I found out after the fact," Adrien said, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. "I confronted my father. We argued. The next day, Silvio was dead, and my father suffered a 'fatal heart attack'."
He stepped closer, closing the distance between them.
"I took over the family to stop the violence against innocents. I took the rosary from Silvio's body to remind me of the blood on my family's name. And I have watched over you ever since to ensure you were never touched by our world again."
He looked at Tommy, shivering in the damp air. "Until your brother invited them back into your life."
Tommy looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry, Ellie. I was stupid."
Adrien reached out and gently closed Elena's hand around the rosary. "We need to leave. Marco's boss will send more men when he doesn't check in."
Ten minutes later, they were back in the armored SUV, speeding away from the docks.
Tommy was in the back seat, nursing a bruised rib and staring out the window in terrified silence. Elena sat in the front, the rosary clutched tightly in her palm.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"My estate," Adrien replied. "It's the only place secure enough to hold off the Morettis until I can negotiate a truce."
"Can you negotiate with them?"
"They want territory. I have money. We will find a price."
But Adrien’s phone vibrated again. He put it on speaker.
"Adrien," a smooth, cultured voice filled the car. "I see Marco didn't call in. I assume he met an unfortunate end."
Adrien’s jaw tightened. "Vincent Moretti. You sent a dead man to collect a debt I already paid."
"Ah, but the debt wasn't the point, was it?" Vincent chuckled darkly. "The point was drawing you out of your fortress. And it worked beautifully."
"What do you want, Vincent?"
"I don't want territory anymore, Adrien. I want the girl."
Elena’s blood ran cold.
"She has nothing to do with this," Adrien said, his voice laced with pure venom.
"She has everything to do with it," Vincent countered calmly. "Your father didn't just kill her parents for seeing a shipment. He killed them because Arthur Ellis was our accountant."
Elena gasped. "My father was an accountant for a small firm. He didn't work for the mob."
"He worked for us, sweetie," Vincent’s voice oozed through the speaker. "He laundered millions for the Moretti family. And before Russo’s father killed him, Arthur hid a flash drive containing all our offshore accounts."
The world spun. Her quiet, boring father? A money launderer for the mafia?
"We know Arthur gave something to you before he died, Elena," Vincent said. "A safety deposit box key. Bring it to me, or I burn down the hospital where your little sister works."
Elena stopped breathing.
She didn't have a sister.
She looked at Adrien, panic rising.
Adrien’s eyes were narrowed, calculating rapidly. He hit the mute button on the steering wheel.
"Did your father give you anything?" Adrien asked quickly.
"No," Elena stammered. "Nothing. Just... just an old box of childhood drawings."
"Think, Elena," Adrien pressed. "Did he give you anything specific right before the accident?"
Elena thought back to the hospital. To the days before the crash.
"He gave me a drawing," she whispered. "A picture I drew of our house when I was seven. He said he kept it in his wallet. He gave it to me and told me to keep it safe."
Adrien unmuted the phone. "She doesn't have a key, Vincent. And you touch anyone else, the truce is off. It's war."
"It's already war, Adrien," Vincent said. "Check your rearview mirror."
Adrien looked up.
Two black SUVs without headlights were speeding up behind them on the wet highway.
"Brace yourselves," Adrien yelled, slamming his foot on the gas.
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But as the SUV lurched forward, a deafening explosion rocked the car. The rear tire blew out, shredded by a high-caliber sniper round from the pursuing vehicles.
The heavy SUV spun wildly out of control, crashing violently through the guardrail and plunging down the steep embankment into the darkness.
