Chapter 3 - the phantom ledger
Alina felt the room spinning around her. Her mind raced to make sense of the words dropping from the mouth of Chicago's most feared Mafia lord.
"Your sister...?" Alina whispered, staring at the old photograph. "You think my mother is your missing sister?"
"Elena Rosselli vanished when I was twenty years old," Dante explained, his deep voice tight with decades of unspoken pain. "Our rival syndicate, the Falcone family, attacked our main villa in Naples. In the chaos, my sister disappeared. For twenty-eight years, my family believed she was killed."
Before Alina could process the revelation, Vincent returned from the hallway, leaning down to whisper into Dante's ear. "Boss, we just pinged Elena Valdez's last known cellular record from eight months ago. The last call placed from her phone didn't come from a local residence. It was routed through an encrypted landline registered to the Falcone estate in West Chicago."
Dante’s jaw clenched so hard the scar along his jawline turned stark white. "The Falcones."
"Who are the Falcones?" Alina asked, her eyes wide with mounting terror. "Why would my mother call them before she vanished?"
Dante looked into Alina's soft, innocent brown eyes, seeing the exact reflection of his lost sister’s gaze. "Eight months ago, Victor Falcone was released from federal prison after serving a twenty-year sentence. If your mother realized Falcone was back in Chicago, she may have gone to confront him to protect you."
Suddenly, baby Leo let out a soft yawn, his gray eyes fluttering shut as he rested his heavy head against Alina's arm.
Dante watched the scene with a rare warmth softening his rugged features. He looked up at Alina. "You aren't safe working in this restaurant anymore, Alina. If Falcone realizes Elena has a daughter living in this city, he will use you as leverage against me."
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Alina stood up nervously, pulling her apron strings tighter. "Mr. Rosselli, I have a normal life. I have an apartment, a job, rent to pay... I can't just run away with a Mafia boss!"
"You aren't running away," Dante said, standing up with majestic grace and adjusting Leo in his arm. "You are coming to the Rosselli estate under my personal protection. Not as an employee... but as my niece."
