Chapter 8 - The Trap is Set
“He’s my uncle,” Lena whispered, the realization tasting like ash in her mouth. “He... he used to beat my sister before she ran away. I thought he died years ago.”
“Men like Victor cockroaches don't die easily,” Marco stated coldly, setting his glass down on the table with a sharp clink. He walked over to the desk, pulled out a secure satellite phone, and dialed a single number. “Dante, mobilize the eastern warehouse division. I want every shipping container locked down by midnight. And bring me Victor Vance, breathing if possible, but bring him to me.”
“Understood, Boss,” Dante nodded sharply, turning on his heel and exiting the suite as quickly as he had entered.
Marco turned back to Lena. The fierce, terrifying syndicate boss was gone, replaced once again by a man who had spent three years grieving a murdered wife and guarding a motherless child.
He knelt beside her armchair, gently taking her cold, trembling hands in his large palms.
“You are safe here, Elena,” Marco said, using her real name with a quiet, reverent tenderness that made her breath hitch. “No one will ever touch you. Not Victor, not the syndicate, and not anyone else who wishes to use you to get to me.”
“I’m not a mob princess, Mr. DeSantis,” Lena whispered, though her hands didn't pull away from his grip. “I’m just a waitress from downtown who can barely pay her electric bill.”
A faint, warm smile finally touched Marco’s lips. “You saved my daughter’s life today. And you carry the blood of the only woman I ever loved. That makes you family, Elena. Whether you want the title or not.”
The door clicked open again, a tiny crack of light spilling into the room.
Small footsteps padded softly across the hardwood floor.
Little Sophia stood in the doorway, wearing pink unicorn pajamas, rubbing her sleepy eyes with one hand and clutching a stuffed rabbit with the other. She looked between Marco and Lena, her sleepy face brightening with a sudden, joyful smile.
“Mommy?” Sophia asked softly, walking right up to Lena’s chair. “Are you staying in my house now?”
Lena looked down at the little girl—her niece, the living legacy of the sister she had never truly known—and felt the last remaining walls of her guarded, lonely heart completely melt away.
May you like
She reached down, lifting Sophia gently into her lap, careful of her bandaged shoulder.
“Yes, sweet girl,” Lena whispered, burying her face in Sophia’s soft dark curls as tears of profound, healing release finally fell from her eyes. “I’m staying.”
