Chapter 5 - The Price on Her HeadBy sunset, Elena Jenkins had acquired four bodyguards.
She hated every one of them.
Not personally.
Carmine's men were polite, quiet, and professionally intimidating.
She hated what they represented.
Fear.
Control.
The loss of ordinary life.
Two men waited outside her apartment.
One followed her to work.
Another remained downstairs.
When Elena entered a grocery store, strangers stared at the enormous man following her through the produce section.
After twenty minutes she abandoned her shopping cart.
“This is ridiculous.”
Her assigned guard, Marco Bellini, remained expressionless.
“Mr. Russo's orders.”
“I need milk.”
“I can purchase milk.”
“I am capable of purchasing my own milk.”
“I didn't say you weren't.”
“Then stop following me.”
“I can't.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Does Gabriel pay you enough for this?”
“No.”
She almost laughed.
That evening she marched into Gabriel's office.
“You cannot assign armed babysitters to me.”
He continued signing documents.
“Apparently I can.”
“I want them gone.”
“No.”
“Gabriel.”
“No.”
“Someone sent me a threatening photograph. That doesn't mean—”
“It means someone watched you outside your home.”
He looked up.
“Someone who helped poison Leo now knows your address.”
His voice sharpened.
“You don't get to treat that casually.”
“It is my life.”
“Yes.”
Something painful crossed his face.
“Which is precisely why I refuse to gamble with it.”
Elena stopped.
The anger in his voice was not possessiveness.
It was fear.
That distinction mattered.
She sat down.
“Who do you think sent it?”
“We're investigating.”
“That's not an answer.”
“I don't have one yet.”
Gabriel stood.
“Vittorio had connections with the DeLuca organization. We believe someone survived the purge after Carlo died.”
“Carlo was Leo's father.”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
The question hung between them.
Gabriel did not lie.
“Yes.”
Elena swallowed.
“Why?”
“He ordered a bombing intended for me.”
Gabriel's expression became distant.
“Three civilians died instead.”
Elena remained silent.
“I found him before the police did.”
“And killed him.”
“Yes.”
She looked away.
This was the reality she had tried not to examine.
Gabriel was not a misunderstood businessman with intimidating friends.
He was dangerous.
He had killed people.
Perhaps many people.
“Does Isabella know?”
“She knows enough.”
“And she still lets you protect Leo?”
“He is my family.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“No.”
Elena stood.
“I need air.”
“Elena—”
“I need ten minutes where you're not deciding what happens around me.”
She left.
He did not follow.
That surprised her.
Elena walked onto the private rooftop terrace.
Chicago spread beneath her.
Traffic moved along Lake Shore Drive.
Wind carried the cold scent of the lake.
She rested her hands on the railing.
“You should wear a coat.”
Gabriel's voice came from behind her.
She almost smiled.
“I asked for ten minutes.”
“It's been eleven.”
“You counted?”
“Yes.”
He placed his coat around her shoulders.
Elena should have refused it.
She didn't.
For several moments they stood silently.
“Do you regret it?” she asked.
“What?”
“Killing Carlo.”
Gabriel stared at the city.
“I regret that my sister loved a man I had to kill.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“No.”
He considered.
“Sometimes I regret who I had to become.”
The answer surprised her.
Gabriel continued.
“My father believed fear was the only currency that never lost value.”
“Was he right?”
“For business?”
Gabriel smiled without humor.
“Usually.”
“And for life?”
He looked at her.
“No.”
Something in his expression made Elena's heartbeat change.
“You're afraid of me,” he said.
“Sometimes.”
“You should be.”
“That's a terrible thing to say.”
“It is the truth.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“But I would rather you fear me for what I am than trust me because I lied.”
Elena held his gaze.
“That might be the first healthy thing you've said.”
“I'll try not to repeat it.”
She laughed softly.
His hand lifted.
He hesitated before touching her.
That hesitation mattered.
Elena closed the distance herself.
Gabriel's fingers touched her cheek.
His touch was astonishingly gentle.
Then Elena kissed him.
For one second Gabriel did not move.
Shock immobilized him.
Then his hand settled carefully at her waist.
The kiss deepened.
Not violently.
Not possessively.
Slowly.
Almost cautiously.
When Elena pulled away, both were breathing differently.
“That,” Gabriel murmured, “was unexpected.”
“Don't become arrogant.”
“Too late.”
Her pager sounded.
They both laughed.
The moment ended.
But neither could pretend it had not happened.
Three days later, Elena's protection detail saved her life.
She left the clinic at 8:40 p.m.
Marco walked beside her.
A black SUV waited at the curb.
Elena was halfway down the steps when Marco suddenly grabbed her.
“Down!”
He pulled her behind a concrete planter.
A sedan accelerated from across the street.
Its passenger window lowered.
Gunfire shattered the clinic's glass entrance.
Marco covered Elena with his body.
Security returned fire toward the tires.
The sedan disappeared into traffic.
Elena's ears rang.
Glass covered the sidewalk.
She looked down.
Blood stained Marco's sleeve.
“You're hit.”
“Graze.”
“Let me see.”
“Elena.”
“Now.”
Even while shaking, she remained a nurse.
She compressed the wound until the clinic's emergency team arrived.
Gabriel reached the scene seven minutes later.
Elena had never seen him move that fast.
He exited the car before it completely stopped.
When he saw her alive, his entire body changed.
He crossed the sidewalk and pulled her against him.
Not caring who watched.
Not caring that police sirens approached.
His arms locked around her.
“Elena.”
“I'm okay.”
He buried his face against her hair.
For several seconds, the most feared man in Chicago simply held her.
Then he saw Marco's blood.
“What happened?”
Marco explained.
Gabriel became cold again.
“License plate?”
“Stolen.”
“Vehicle?”
“Probably abandoned already.”
Gabriel turned toward Carmine.
“Find them.”
Elena grabbed his wrist.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“No what?”
“No war.”
“They fired at you.”
“And if you retaliate blindly, more people get hurt.”
“They tried to kill you.”
“I know.”
Her voice trembled.
Gabriel saw it.
His anger softened.
Elena continued.
“I don't want another mother losing someone because of me.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
She looked toward the shattered clinic.
“I want to know why someone cares enough about a premature baby to start a war.”
That question changed everything.
Because the answer arrived the following morning.
Carmine placed a sealed folder on Gabriel's desk.
“We found Carlo DeLuca's financial records.”
Gabriel opened them.
His face tightened.
“What?”
Elena asked.
Gabriel passed her a document.
It was a trust agreement.
Leo DeLuca Russo was listed as beneficiary.
Elena read the amount twice.
She thought she misunderstood.
“Two hundred and eighty million dollars?”
Carmine nodded.
“Carlo created it before he died.”
Gabriel continued reading.
The inheritance included legitimate property, investment accounts, and controlling shares in several companies.
Everything transferred to Leo upon Carlo's death.
If Leo died before his eighteenth birthday, the assets passed to Carlo's surviving brother.
“Who is the brother?” Elena asked.
Gabriel's expression became lethal.
“Matteo DeLuca.”
Carmine placed a photograph on the desk.
A handsome man in his late thirties stared back at them.
Elena recognized him immediately.
Her stomach dropped.
The baseball cap was gone.
But the face was unmistakable.
“This is the man from the security footage.”
Gabriel nodded.
The man who had entered the clinic.
The man who had switched Leo's medication.
The man who stood to inherit $280 million if the child died.
Matteo DeLuca had not disappeared.
May you like
He had simply been waiting.
And now Elena knew his face.
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