All Chapters of The Mobster's Witness: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Lena “Welcome home, daughter.” The voice came from behind the door. My entire body went still. It was Antonio's voice. My father's voice. But Antonio was standing beside me. Alive. Breathing. His face had turned completely white. “No,” he whispered. Damien immediately moved in front of me. “Stay behind me.” I didn't argue. For once, I couldn't. My eyes were fixed on the doorway. The darkness beyond it seemed to breathe. Then a figure stepped forward. My heart stopped. He looked exactly like Antonio. Not similar. Not close. Exactly. Same dark hair. Same eyes. Same scar above his eyebrow. Same crooked line of his mouth. Even the small mark near his temple that I remembered from childhood. I looked at the man beside me. Then back at the stranger. My mind couldn't understand what my eyes were seeing. Antonio whispered: “Marcello.” The stranger smiled. And suddenly I understood why the name felt like a nightmare. Marcello. Damien's biological father. T

LenaI screamed.There was nothing beneath my feet.One second I was standing beside Damien, staring at my grandfather.The next, the floor disappeared.Darkness swallowed us.My stomach rose into my throat as I fell.Then something caught me.Damien.His arms wrapped around my waist, and his body twisted beneath mine.“Hold on!”I grabbed his jacket.“I am!”The darkness seemed endless.We kept falling.Then—Crash!We hit something hard.Pain shot through my shoulder.I heard Damien grunt beneath me.For several seconds, neither of us moved.Then his voice came.“Lena?”“I’m here.”“Are you hurt?”“I don't think so.”He exhaled.“Good.”I lifted my head.We were lying on a metal platform suspended over a massive underground chamber.Above us was nothing but darkness.Below us—I couldn't see the bottom.There were lights along the walls, though.Thousands of them.Small white lights arranged in circles.Like stars.I slowly stood.Damien remained beside me.“Where are we?”I shook m

Lena“THE HEIR HAS RETURNED.”The voice rolled through the underground chamber.It wasn't loud.It didn't need to be.The words seemed to come from everywhere.From the walls.From the floor.From the darkness beneath us.I couldn't breathe.Damien's arm tightened around my waist.“Don't look down.”Naturally, I looked down.Two enormous eyes stared back at me from the darkness.They weren't human.They weren't completely animal either.They glowed with a pale, unnatural light.Then something moved.The floor trembled.My grandfather took a step backward.“No.”The founder turned toward him.“You remember.”My grandfather shook his head.“It was destroyed.”“No.”The founder's expression was grim.“It was buried.”Antonio stepped closer.“What is it?”The founder looked at him.“The first guardian.”My mother whispered:“That's impossible.”“You've spent nineteen years believing many impossible things.”The founder looked toward me.“This is the oldest one.”A deep growl echoed beneat

Lena“Lena!”My mother's scream tore through the darkness.I didn't think.I ran.“Mom!”Damien was immediately beside me.“Wait!”But I couldn't.For nineteen years, I'd believed my mother was dead.Then I'd believed she was alive.Then I'd been told she'd been taken.Now I was being told the woman upstairs wasn't even my mother.And somewhere behind this door, someone was screaming my name.I couldn't stop.The corridor beyond the sixth door was narrow.The walls were made of black stone.There were no lights.Only small silver symbols glowing beneath our feet.Every few steps, one illuminated.The first showed the symbol of the heir.The second showed the protector.The third—was a mother holding a child.I stopped.My fingers trembled.Damien caught up with me.“Are you okay?”I touched the symbol.A memory exploded inside my mind.My mother holding me as a baby.Her voice.Her heartbeat.Her tears.I'll always find you.I gasped.Damien caught me before I fell.“What did you see

LenaThe darkness swallowed everything.Damien's hand was the only thing I could feel.His fingers locked around mine, warm and desperate, as the ground trembled beneath our feet. Somewhere in the distance, the guardian roared again, and the sound traveled through the mansion like thunder trapped inside the walls.But the voice in my mind remained calm.Patient.Almost loving.Come home, Lena.I squeezed Damien's hand."Did you hear that?""Hear what?"I turned toward him, but I could barely see his face."The voice."His thumb moved over my knuckles."What did it say?"My throat tightened."It called itself my first mother."For a moment, Damien didn't answer.Then he pulled me closer."Whatever it is, you don't have to face it alone."I wanted to believe him.God, I wanted to believe him.But something about that voice had reached a place inside me that Damien couldn't touch. It felt older than my memories, older than the mansion, older than the secrets my family had spent generatio