CHAPTER 4 — A PRICE ON HER NAME
CHAPTER 4 — A PRICE ON HER NAME
Nora woke coughing.
Every breath burned.
She was lying beside a fireplace.
Warm blankets covered her body.
Dry clothes.
The smell of coffee.
For one impossible second...
She wondered if the warehouse had been a nightmare.
Then she saw Luca.
He stood by a window overlooking a snow-covered forest, speaking quietly into a satellite phone.
"...They're moving faster than expected."
A pause.
"No."
Another pause.
"I found the girl first."
Silence.
His expression darkened.
"I don't care what the Council wants."
He ended the call.
Without turning around, he said,
"You're awake."
Nora slowly sat up.
Her muscles protested.
"Where am I?"
"My cabin."
"You have a cabin?"
"For emergencies."
She looked around.
The place was surprisingly simple.
Wooden walls.
Old books.
A cast-iron stove.
No luxury.
Nothing resembling the life of a powerful crime boss.
"You saved me."
"I delayed your death."
"That's not the same thing."
"It is where I come from."
Nora studied him.
"You still haven't explained anything."
Luca finally faced her.
"What do you remember?"
"I finished work."
"I took out the trash."
"Someone kidnapped me."
"Then you appeared."
He nodded.
"Good."
"Good?"
"Because that means you don't know why they're hunting you."
Nora stared.
"I was hoping you could tell me."
Instead of answering, Luca walked to a nearby table.
He placed a worn leather folder in front of her.
Inside...
Photographs.
Dozens of them.
Pictures of her.
At work.
Buying groceries.
Reading in the park.
Leaving her apartment.
Some were months old.
Others had been taken only days earlier.
Her blood turned to ice.
"They've been watching me..."
"For nearly a year."
She looked up, horrified.
"Why?"
Luca pulled out the final photograph.
It wasn't of Nora.
It was an elderly woman leaving a church.
Silver hair.
Gentle smile.
Nora gasped.
"My grandmother."
Luca's voice became unusually quiet.
"That's not your grandmother."
"What?"
"She raised you."
"She loved you."
"But biologically..."
He slid one more document across the table.
An old birth certificate.
The father's name had been blacked out.
The mother's name had been replaced decades ago.
Nora felt the room spin.
"This..."
"...is fake," Luca finished.
"No..."
She shook her head violently.
"No, this can't be."
"It can."
"And someone has been killing everyone who knows why."
A heavy silence filled the cabin.
Finally Nora whispered,
"Who am I?"
Luca held her gaze for several long seconds.
Then he answered the question that changed everything.
"You are the last surviving heir to a family that disappeared twenty-six years ago."
He paused.
"And every criminal syndicate on the East Coast believes your blood gives you the legal claim to an empire worth nearly four billion dollars."
Before Nora could speak—
A sharp red laser dot appeared on the cabin window.
Then another.
Then five more.
Luca's eyes hardened instantly.
"They found us."
The cabin lights suddenly went out.
And from somewhere outside, a voice echoed through the snowy forest.
"Luca Moretti..."
May you like
"Hand over the girl..."
"...or we'll burn the entire mountain down."
