Chapter 5 Conditional Freedom

Elena's POV

On the seventh day, Luca walked in carrying something.

A key card.

He held it out to me.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Access. You can leave the room now. Walk around the penthouse. You've been cooperative. You deserve some freedom."

I stared at the card. Not sure if this was a trick.

"I can leave?"

"The room, yes. The building, no. This card opens the door from the inside. But there are guards outside. They'll follow you. And you won't be able to access certain areas."

"Like?"

"My office. My private rooms. The elevator. Anything that could help you escape."

So not real freedom. Just a bigger cage.

But it was something.

I took the card. Our fingers brushed for a second. I pulled away quickly.

"Thank you," I said. Hating that I had to thank him for anything.

"Don't make me regret this, Elena."

He left.

I waited five minutes. Then walked to the door. Pressed the card against it.

It beeped and then the lock clicked.

I opened the door.

Two men stood in the hallway. Both huge. Both wearing dark suits. They were both clearly guards.

They looked at me. Said nothing.

I stepped out into the hallway. My heart pounding.

The guards didn't stop me. Just started following. Staying a few feet behind. Close enough to grab me if I ran.

I walked slowly. Looking around.

The penthouse was massive. Hallways leading in different directions. Closed doors everywhere.

Everything was expensive. White marble floors. Dark wood walls. Art that probably cost more than I made in a year.

I kept walking. The guards followed behind silently.

I found a library. With walls covered in books. Leather chairs and a desk at a corner.

I walked in. Ran my fingers along the book spines. All expensive editions. Some looked old. 

The guards stood in the doorway. Watching. Not letting me out of sight.

I pulled out a book. Sat in one of the chairs and pretended to read.

While my eyes scanned the desk. Looking for papers. Documents, anything.

But the desk was clean, nothing useful.

I put the book back and kept walking.

That's when I heard voices. Coming from another room.

I followed the sound. Found a dining room. Long table. Could seat twenty people easily.

Two people sat at one end. Eating lunch.

A woman and a man.

The woman looked up when I walked in. Her eyes narrowed immediately.

She was around thirty. Short black hair. Sharp features. Scars on her arms that her short sleeves didn't hide.

She looked dangerous. Like she could kill someone without thinking twice.

The man was younger. Maybe mid-twenties. Handsome with dark curly hair and an easy smile.

He looked harmless. But something in his eyes said otherwise.

"Well, well," the man said. Standing up. "You must be the famous Elena. The witness Luca won't kill."

I didn't answer. Just stood in the doorway.

The woman kept eating. But I could feel her watching me. Judging me.

"I'm Mateo," the man continued. Walking closer. 

"Luca's brother. Half-brother technically. Different mothers."

He was Luca's brother. I could see it now. Same dark hair. Same sharp features. But Mateo's eyes were brown, not blue.

"And this lovely lady is Sienna," Mateo gestured to the woman. 

"Luca's right hand. His most trusted person. Though I think she likes him better than she likes most people."

"I like people fine," Sienna said. Her voice cold. Flat. 

"When they're not liabilities."

"A liability?" I repeated.

"You saw something you shouldn't have. You're being kept here against your will. That makes you a liability." She finally looked at me directly. 

"Question is, what kind of liability. The kind that stays quiet? Or the kind that runs to the police the first chance she gets?"

"I'm not running to anyone. I just want to survive."

"Smart answer." Sienna went back to her food. 

"But I don't trust you. And I'll be watching. If you do anything to hurt Luca, you'll deal with me. And I'm not as merciful as he is."

The threat was clear. Direct.

Mateo laughed. 

"Don't mind Sienna. She's protective. Like a guard dog. All bark and lots of bite."

"I'm sitting right here, Mateo."

"I know. Just keeping things light." He turned back to me. 

"So, Elena. What brings you to our lovely home? Just exploring?"

"Luca gave me permission to walk around."

"Did he now? Interesting. He doesn't usually let prisoners roam free."

"I'm not exactly free. Your guards made that clear." I gestured to the two men still standing behind me.

"Fair point." Mateo moved closer. Too close. 

"You're pretty. I can see why Luca kept you alive. He always did have a thing for beautiful things."

I stepped back. 

"I should go."

"Stay. Have lunch with us. You must be bored locked in that room all week."

"I'm fine."

"Come on. I don't bite. Unlike Sienna."

"Mateo, leave her alone," Sienna said. Not looking up from her plate.

"I'm just being friendly."

"You're being annoying."

I turned and walked out fast. The guards followed.

Mateo's laugh echoed behind me. 

I went back to my room. Exhausted.

I'd hidden my phone in my jacket pocket that first night. They never searched me. Never found it.

It was dead now. Had been for days. No charger.

But Iris would be calling. Over and over. Wondering why I wasn't answering.

She'd know something was wrong. She'd start looking for me.

But would she find me? 

The next day, Luca visited again.

He found me in the library, reading. Actually reading this time. Nothing else to do.

"You're settling in," he observed. Sitting in the chair across from me.

"I'm surviving. There's a difference."

"You met Sienna and Mateo."

"Your welcoming committee. Yes."

"What did you think?"

"Sienna hates me. Mateo makes me uncomfortable."

"Sienna doesn't hate you. She's cautious. She protects me. That's her job."

"And Mateo?"

"Is harmless."

"I don't think he is."

Luca smiled, a small smile.

"You're perceptive. Mateo likes to play the charming fool. But he's smarter than he looks. More dangerous too."

"Then why let him act that way?"

"Because people underestimate him. That's useful."

I closed the book. Looked at Luca directly.

"Tell me more about Marco Ricci."

His expression shifted. Became guarded.

"Why?"

"Because I can't stop thinking about him. About watching him die. I need to understand why. What he did that was so bad you had to kill him."

Luca was quiet for a moment. Then leaned back in his chair.

"I told you. He stole from me."

"Fifty million dollars. I remember. But why? Why would he risk that? He had to know you'd find out."

"Greed. Pride. Stupidity. Take your pick."

"There has to be more to it."

Luca studied me. Like he was deciding how much to tell me.

"Marco came to me two years ago. He was in debt. Gambling. He owed the wrong people a lot of money. They were going to kill him. So he begged me for a job. For protection."

My brother. Gambling. I didn't even know he gambled.

"I gave him a chance," Luca continued. "Put him to work. Low-level stuff at first. He was good. Smart with numbers. So I moved him up. Gave him more responsibility."

"Handling money."

"Yes. He was supposed to move it. Clean it. Make sure it got where it needed to go. Instead, he started skimming. A little at first. Then more. Then a lot more."

"And you didn't notice?"

"I noticed. But I wanted to see how far he'd go. How greedy he'd get. I gave him chances to stop. To confess. He didn't take them."

"So you killed him."

"No. That's not why I killed him." Luca's voice went colder. Harder. 

"I could have forgiven the money. Could have taken it back. Made him work it off. But then he went to my enemies."

"The people you mentioned. Who got your men killed."

"Yes. Marco sold them information. Routes my people used. Locations of our operations. Names of who worked for me. And because of that information, three of my men were ambushed. Killed. Left in the street like garbage."

The pain in his voice was real. He cared about those men.

"They had families," Luca continued. "Wives. Kids. They trusted me to keep them safe. And I failed them. Because Marco betrayed us."

I felt sick.

My brother. My brother got people killed. Good people. Innocent people.

"That's why I killed him," Luca said quietly. "Not for the money. For the blood on his hands."

I understood. God help me, I understood.

Marco deserved it. Everything Luca did was justified.

My brother wasn't the person I thought he was. Wasn't the good man I remembered.

He was a thief. A traitor. A liar.

And I'd been mourning him for three years. Missing him for nothing.

"Are you alright?" Luca asked.

I realized I was crying. Tears running down my face.

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You're crying."

"I just... I feel bad for those men. The ones who died. They didn't deserve that."

"No. They didn't."

Luca stood up. Walked to the door.

Then stopped. Looked back at me.

"Elena. Why do you care so much about Marco Ricci? About understanding what he did?"

My heart stopped. Did he know? Did he figure it out?

"Because I saw him die," I said carefully. "Because his death is the reason I'm trapped here. I need to understand if it was worth it. If his death had meaning."

Luca nodded slowly. 

"It did. His death avenged three good men. That's meaning enough."

He left.

I sat in the library. Alone. Crying for my brother. For the man I thought he was. For the truth I'd just learned.

Marco wasn't innocent. He was exactly what Luca said. A traitor who got what he deserved.

And that truth hurt worse than watching him die.

Because now I couldn't even hate Luca for killing him.

Couldn't blame him. Couldn't want revenge.