Chapter 3 - THE SECRET INSIDE HER PHONE
Lena woke beneath white hospital lights.
For several seconds she didn't remember where she was.
Then she inhaled.
Pain immediately reminded her.
Her ribs were fractured, not completely broken apart as she'd feared, but the doctor had warned her that healing would take weeks. She had bruising across her chest and shoulder and signs of older injuries they wanted documented.
Lena had hated that part.
The photographs.
The questions.
The nurse asking, “Has this happened before?”
She had almost lied.
Habit was difficult to kill.
But then she remembered the bathroom floor.
And Roman's message.
You're getting out tonight.
So Lena told the truth.
Every incident.
Every excuse she'd made.
Every apology Derek had offered afterward.
Every promise that he would never do it again.
By sunrise, police had enough information to pursue charges.
Derek, however, had vanished from the hospital story entirely.
Roman's men claimed they'd left him restrained for the authorities.
By the time officers reached the house, he was gone.
That frightened Lena.
Roman appeared in her doorway shortly after nine.
He had removed his overcoat and rolled his sleeves once.
“You should be sleeping.”
Lena looked at him.
“You're the reason I'm awake.”
“Fair.”
He placed a paper cup on the table.
“Tea.”
“I didn't ask for tea.”
“You looked like someone who needed tea.”
That almost made her smile.
Almost.
Then she remembered what Derek said.
“Why was your number in my phone?”
Roman pulled a chair toward the bed.
“I don't know.”
“That's not comforting.”
“It wasn't intended to be.”
Lena studied him.
Newspaper photographs had never captured how unsettlingly calm he was.
“Are you actually a mafia boss?”
Roman's mouth shifted slightly.
“Would you like the polite answer or the accurate answer?”
“Accurate.”
“My family has interests the federal government dislikes.”
“That sounds like the polite answer.”
“It was.”
Despite herself, Lena laughed.
Immediately regretted it.
Roman stood as pain crossed her face.
“Don't make me laugh.”
“I'll try to become less charming.”
“You're terrifying.”
“I've heard that too.”
His humor disappeared as he reached into his jacket.
He placed an old photograph on the blanket.
Lena's breath caught.
Her mother.
Young.
Maybe twenty-five.
Standing beside a much younger Roman.
Lena looked from the photograph to him.
“You knew her.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you say that last night?”
“Because until I saw the backup contact, I didn't know who you were.”
Lena stared at the photograph.
Her mother, Amelia Hart, was smiling.
Roman looked barely twenty.
“Were you together?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Roman leaned back.
“Your mother worked for my father.”
Lena's eyes narrowed.
“My mother was a bookkeeper.”
“Yes.”
“For a medical supply company.”
“No.”
Silence entered the room.
Roman continued carefully.
“She managed financial records for several DeLuca businesses.”
Lena felt cold.
“She worked for the mafia?”
“She worked for my father. At first, legally. Later she discovered the accounts weren't what she'd been told.”
Lena thought of her mother's quiet nature, the old sweaters, the garden, the way she worried about late bills.
None of it fit.
“What happened?”
“Twelve years ago, money disappeared from accounts connected to my father. Millions. Someone inside the organization was stealing.”
“My mother?”
Roman's eyes hardened.
“No.”
The certainty in that one word surprised her.
“She discovered who was doing it.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You're telling me your criminal empire lost millions and you don't know who took it?”
“My father knew.”
“Then ask him.”
“He was murdered two days after your mother disappeared.”
Lena stopped breathing.
“My mother didn't disappear. She moved to Vermont.”
“That's what everyone was supposed to believe.”
Roman's voice lowered.
“My father sent her away because she had evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“I've been trying to answer that question for twelve years.”
Lena looked at her phone on the table.
“You think it's in there.”
“Possibly.”
Her stomach tightened.
“No.”
“Lena—”
“No. You saved me last night. I'm grateful. But I'm not becoming part of whatever war your family is fighting.”
Roman nodded once.
“Then don't.”
She blinked.
“That easy?”
“You don't owe me anything.”
“But you want the phone.”
“Yes.”
“And if I say no?”
“I'll walk out.”
She searched his face for manipulation and found none.
That unsettled her more.
Before she could answer, a nurse entered.
“Ms. Hart? There's someone from the district attorney's office who wants to speak with you.”
Roman immediately stood.
“Name?”
The nurse checked.
“Assistant District Attorney Calvin Mercer.”
Roman became completely still.
Lena noticed.
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
“Good or bad?”
Roman looked at her.
“Very bad.”
The door opened before the nurse could respond.
A handsome man in his forties entered wearing a navy suit and carrying a leather folder.
“Ms. Hart, I'm Calvin Mercer. I'm sorry we're meeting under these circumstances.”
His eyes briefly settled on Roman.
“Mr. DeLuca.”
“Mercer.”
Something passed between them.
Mercer faced Lena.
“We've been trying to locate Derek Walsh since last night. Unfortunately, we have reason to believe he's connected to a larger investigation.”
“Into Roman?”
“Among others.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
Mercer placed a photograph on the table.
Derek stood beside a second man.
Lena recognized him immediately.
Her former family attorney.
Thomas Creed.
A man who had helped settle her mother's estate after her death.
“What is this?”
Mercer folded his hands.
“Derek Walsh was not your boyfriend by coincidence.”
The words landed like a physical blow.
“He targeted you.”
Lena couldn't speak.
Mercer continued.
“He met you three years ago, shortly after Creed located you.”
“Located me?”
Roman moved closer.
“Mercer.”
The prosecutor ignored him.
“Your mother left behind financial evidence tied to organized crime. We believe Derek was assigned to monitor you until you revealed where she hid it.”
Lena stared at him.
“Assigned by who?”
Mercer hesitated.
“That part we're still determining.”
A sound came from Lena's phone.
A notification.
All three looked toward it.
An unknown number had sent a photograph.
Lena opened it.
Her blood froze.
It was Maya.
Her best friend.
Sitting in a chair.
Hands tied.
Behind her stood Derek.
The message underneath contained only one sentence.
Bring me the phone and come alone, or Maya pays for your mother's mistake.
Lena stared in horror.
Roman took one look at the screen.
His expression changed.
This time, there was no humor.
No restraint.
Only something lethal.
“You're not going anywhere,” he said.
Then Lena's phone rang.
May you like
And Derek's name appeared across the screen.
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