Semua Bab The Mobster's Witness: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Chapter OneThe music was still pounding in my skull long after I stepped outside.I stood beneath the flickering neon sign of the club, hugging my jacket around myself while the cold night air burned my overheated skin. My ears rang from four hours of bass-heavy music, shouting customers, and the constant metallic clatter of glasses being collected from tables.For a few seconds, I simply stood there.I was nineteen years old.It was almost four in the morning.And I was exhausted.My feet hurt. My lower back ached. My makeup felt like a mask that had been glued to my face. Glitter clung stubbornly to my collarbone despite the shower I'd taken in the club's tiny dressing room.I wanted nothing more than to go home.Home.The word almost made me laugh.My apartment wasn't much of a home anymore.It was a tiny, aging place on the fourth floor of a building where the elevator had stopped working three months ago. The wallpaper was peeling. The heating worked only when it felt like it. T

Chapter Three For the next three days, I lived like a prisoner. Not because anyone had locked me inside my apartment. Because I was afraid to leave it. I stopped going to the club. I stopped going to university. I barely went to the hospital. Every time my phone rang, I stared at the screen until the call ended. Every time a car slowed outside my building, I held my breath. And every time I looked through the curtains, I saw the same black SUV. It never parked directly in front of my building. That would have been too obvious. Instead, it stayed across the street. Sometimes for twenty minutes. Sometimes for hours. Once, I watched it remain there from sunset until nearly midnight. I couldn't see the driver through the tinted windows. But I knew someone was inside. Watching. Waiting. I should have called the police. I knew that. But fear had become a second voice inside my head. What if they know? What if they have people inside the police department? What if ca

Chapter Five I didn't remember the drive home. I remembered getting into the car. I remembered Victor opening the door for me. I remembered staring through the window while the mansion disappeared behind us. After that, everything became a blur. The city lights passed outside like distant stars, but I barely saw them. My mind was trapped inside Damien's office. Become my wife. I pressed my fingers against my temples. It was absurd. Completely insane. I was nineteen. He was thirty-eight. I had known him for less than a week. And the first thing I'd learned about him was that he could kill a man without blinking. Now he wanted to marry me. Not because he loved me. Not because he wanted me. Because I was a witness. A problem. A liability. A loose end he wanted tied. I laughed quietly. "What kind of nightmare is this?" Victor glanced at me through the rearview mirror. "You should consider his offer." I looked at him. "You too?" "I'm not telling you what to do.

Chapter Seven The message remained on my screen for almost a minute. Good. That was it. No congratulations. No reassurance. No indication that I had just agreed to marry a man I had watched kill someone. Just one word. I stared at it until my vision blurred. Then I locked my phone. "You're really doing this." I whispered the words to myself. There was no answer. My father's fingers were still beneath mine. I looked at him. "I hope you understand what I'm doing for you." Of course, he didn't. But maybe someday he would. Maybe he'd wake up. Maybe he'd look at me and tell me I had made the wrong choice. And maybe I'd finally be able to laugh about all of this. That was the fantasy I held onto. Because the alternative was too terrifying. Damien sent a car for me at noon. I was standing outside the hospital when it arrived. This time, Victor wasn't driving. A younger man stepped out. "Miss Moretti." "Lena." He nodded. "Lena. Damien asked me to bring you to the

Chapter Nine For three seconds, I couldn't move. I stared at the photograph on my phone. My father's hospital room. The bed. The machines. The chair where I'd been sitting only minutes ago. And beneath it: You should have listened to your father. My fingers went numb. Someone had been in the hallway. Someone had been close enough to photograph us. Close enough to hear the conversation. Close enough to know exactly what my father had said. I slowly raised my eyes. Damien was watching me. "Give me the phone." I handed it to him. He looked at the picture. Something changed in his face. It wasn't fear. Damien De Luca didn't look afraid. But the calmness disappeared. He turned toward the door. "Victor." The door opened almost immediately. Victor stepped inside. "Boss?" Damien handed him the phone. "Lock down the floor." Victor looked at the photograph. His expression hardened. "Now." He pulled out his own phone and started issuing orders. Within seconds, t