Chapter 3 – THE SECRET BENEATH THE FLOORBOARDS

The freezing wind whipped across the street, carrying the smell of ash and betrayal.

“You lied to me,” I whispered.

Dante stood up slowly, the orange glow of the fire reflecting in his dark eyes.

“I never lied. You never asked.”

“You came into my restaurant. You let me serve you for seven months while you had men stalking my home?” My voice shook with absolute fury.

“I protected your home!” Dante snapped, losing his impenetrable calm. “If I hadn’t put men on your street, the people who set that fire would have found you months ago!”

Leo whimpered, burying his face in Dante’s oversized coat.

Instantly, Dante’s expression softened. He took a slow breath, reining in his temper.

“Nora, we cannot have this conversation on the street. The men who did this will come back to finish the job. You and the boy are coming with me to the estate.”

“No,” I backed away.

“You have no home,” Dante pointed to the collapsing building. “You have no clothes, no money, and a target on your back. You get in my car, or you risk his life.”

He was right. And I hated him for it.

Ten minutes later, we were sitting in the back of a bulletproof SUV.

Leo fell asleep almost instantly, exhausted by the terror, his head resting heavily on my lap.

Dante sat across from me in the dim light of the cabin.

“My grandfather,” I said quietly, not looking at him. “What did he take?”

Dante poured two glasses of water from a small console, handing one to me.

“Thirty years ago, a rival family—the Marcellos—framed my father for the murder of a federal judge. They had a ledger. A black book containing every bribe, every hit, every illegal transaction.”

I took the glass, my hands shaking.

“My father was going to go to prison for the rest of his life,” Dante continued. “Your grandfather, Pietro, was my father’s driver. He broke into the Marcello estate, stole the ledger, and disappeared. He took the leverage with him, keeping my father safe, but ensuring he could never return to his old life.”

I looked down at Leo. “My grandfather was a hero.”

“He was,” Dante agreed softly. “But the Marcellos never stopped looking for the ledger. When Pietro died, the whispers started. They knew he had a granddaughter. They knew where you lived.”

“And the photograph?” I asked. “Leo said he saw your picture under the floorboards.”

Dante leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

“Pietro reached out to me shortly before he died. He sent me a photo of myself, taken outside La Cattedrale. On the back, he wrote a message.”

“What message?”

“He told me to hire you. To keep you close. Because if the Marcellos found you, you wouldn’t survive a week.”

Tears spilled over my lashes.

My grandfather hadn’t abandoned me. He had secured me a job. He had put me directly under the wing of the most powerful man in the city.

The SUV turned onto a massive private driveway, passing through heavy iron gates.

We pulled up to a sprawling, stone mansion.

Dante stepped out and gently lifted Leo from my lap so I could climb out. He carried the sleeping boy effortlessly.

We walked into a grand foyer lined with marble and expensive art.

“Mrs. Hughes,” Dante called out.

A kind-faced older woman in a bathrobe hurried down the stairs.

“Prepare the guest suite for Nora, and the adjoining room for the boy,” Dante ordered. “Find them clothes. Whatever they need.”

“Yes, Mr. Gallo.”

I followed her up the stairs, carrying the weight of a dozen secrets.

When we reached the massive suite, I gently laid Leo on the plush bed.

As I pulled Dante’s heavy wool coat off Leo’s shoulders, my fingers brushed against something stiff in the deep pocket.

It wasn’t a wallet. It wasn’t a gun.

I pulled it out.

It was an old, faded theater ticket.

Dated thirty years ago. In Prizzi.

And written on the back, in my grandfather’s unmistakable handwriting, were five numbers.

A combination.

“Auntie Nora?” Leo mumbled in his sleep.

I stared at the ticket.

Dante had told me my grandfather stole a ledger.

But my grandfather hadn’t given the combination to Dante. He had hidden it in Dante’s coat, knowing I would be the one to find it.

TITLE: The Safety Deposit Box In The Rain

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