Chapter 5 - The Price of Going Home
Elena turned on Matteo.
“You said I couldn’t go home because it wasn’t safe.”
“It wasn’t.”
“You brought this to my family!”
“I didn’t know my father was involved.”
“My sister is in Chicago!”
“I know.”
“Then get her!”
“I already am.”
Matteo called his security chief.
“Chicago team. Now.”
He listened.
His expression darkened.
“What do you mean she’s gone?”
Elena froze.
“What?”
Matteo lowered the phone.
“Mia left work forty minutes ago.”
“So?”
“She never arrived home.”
Elena grabbed her coat.
“I’m going.”
Matteo blocked the door.
“No.”
“Move.”
“Elena.”
“MOVE!”
“You cannot walk into this.”
“That’s my sister!”
“And Sofia is my daughter!”
“Exactly!”
Her voice broke.
“You know what it feels like.”
That stopped him.
Elena stared at him.
“I buried my husband and both of my sons. Mia is the only family I have left.”
Matteo’s expression softened.
“I will get her back.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“No.”
He stepped aside.
“But I can promise you won’t face my father alone.”
They flew to New York that afternoon.
Sofia came with them because Matteo refused to leave her anywhere his father could reach.
A pediatric nurse had finally been found, but Sofia still refused most bottles.
Elena continued feeding her.
Not because Matteo demanded it.
He never asked again.
Each time, Elena offered.
That distinction mattered.
During the flight, Matteo sat across from her.
“You hate flying with me.”
“I hate being kidnapped internationally.”
“I didn’t kidnap you.”
“You changed my destination and told me I couldn’t leave.”
Matteo considered it.
“Legally, your argument is strong.”
Elena almost laughed.
“Was that another joke?”
“Possibly.”
Sofia grabbed Matteo’s finger.
He looked down.
Elena watched him.
“You’re getting better.”
“At what?”
“Holding her.”
“I was holding her incorrectly?”
“For the first two days, you held her like an unexploded bomb.”
“She felt like one.”
Elena smiled despite herself.
Then Matteo became serious.
“When this is over, you can leave.”
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
She looked at him.
“No guards?”
“No.”
“No Volkov people following me?”
“No.”
“No telling me where I can live?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Matteo looked toward the window.
Elena studied him.
“You don’t want me to leave.”
His eyes returned to hers.
“That is irrelevant.”
“That means yes.”
“Elena.”
“What?”
“You’re very difficult.”
“So I’m frequently told.”
He recognized his own words and smiled.
Then his phone rang.
The smile disappeared.
A location had arrived.
An abandoned waterfront warehouse in Brooklyn.
Along with a message.
COME ALONE WITH THE CARD.
Elena read it.
“He’ll kill you.”
“Probably.”
“That’s your plan?”
“My plan is better than that.”
Two hours later, Matteo entered the warehouse carrying the memory card.
Elena watched remotely from a surveillance van several blocks away.
Nikolai sat beside her.
“You should stay here.”
“I’m going inside.”
“No.”
“Mia is my sister.”
“And Matteo will kill me if something happens to you.”
“Then don’t let something happen.”
Nikolai stared at her.
“I understand why he likes you.”
Elena looked at him.
“He doesn’t like me.”
Nikolai laughed.
“Right.”
Inside the warehouse, Konstantin Volkov waited with six armed men.
Mia sat tied to a chair.
Elena’s stomach twisted.
Matteo walked forward.
“Let her go.”
Konstantin smiled.
“You look tired.”
“I have a newborn.”
“You always were dramatic.”
“You murdered my wife.”
Konstantin’s smile disappeared.
“Anna became inconvenient.”
Matteo’s entire body stiffened.
In the surveillance van, Elena whispered, “He admitted it.”
Nikolai nodded.
“Keep recording.”
Konstantin held out his hand.
“The card.”
Matteo lifted it.
“First Mia.”
“You’re negotiating poorly.”
“You killed Anna because she knew what you were.”
“I killed Anna because you became weak.”
Matteo stared at his father.
“Loving my wife made me weak?”
“Love always does.”
Konstantin stepped closer.
“You were supposed to inherit everything.”
“I don’t want anything from you.”
“You already have it.”
“No.”
Matteo crushed the memory card beneath his shoe.
Konstantin’s face changed.
“You idiot.”
“Copies exist.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“They’re already with federal prosecutors.”
Konstantin drew his gun.
“So you’ve destroyed your own family.”
Matteo looked directly at him.
“No.”
“My family is six weeks old.”
Konstantin aimed.
“And the woman?”
Matteo said nothing.
His father smiled.
“Ah.”
That was when Elena entered through the side door.
“Let my sister go.”
Matteo turned.
“Elena!”
Konstantin laughed.
“Perfect.”
“Elena, get out!”
She held up her phone.
“Your confession is already recorded.”
Konstantin’s smile vanished.
He turned his weapon toward her.
Matteo moved instantly.
A shot exploded.
Then another.
The warehouse erupted.
Nikolai’s team stormed the entrances.
Elena dropped behind a crate.
Matteo tackled his father.
Mia screamed.
One of Konstantin’s men grabbed her chair.
Elena ran toward them.
She slammed a metal bar into his arm.
His gun fell.
Nikolai kicked it away.
“Remind me never to annoy you.”
“Untie her!”
Across the warehouse, Matteo pinned his father to the floor.
Konstantin stared up at him.
“Do it.”
Matteo held a gun against his chest.
“Kill me.”
Matteo’s finger tightened.
Konstantin smiled.
“Show her what you are.”
Matteo looked toward Elena.
Then at Mia.
Then back at his father.
He lowered the gun.
“No.”
Konstantin’s smile disappeared.
“You’re weak.”
Matteo stepped away.
“No.”
Sirens screamed outside.
“I’m finished being you.”
Federal agents flooded the warehouse.
Konstantin Volkov was placed in handcuffs.
As he passed Matteo, he whispered, “This isn’t over.”
Matteo answered quietly.
May you like
“For you, it is.”
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