Chapter 8 - The Shadow of the Past
Two days after returning to Chicago from the successful New York summit, a dark echo from Adeline’s past resurfaced to threaten her newfound peace.
While Enzo was at a business meeting downtown, Adeline was reviewing the interior plans for the estate’s new library in the morning room.
Mrs. Gable walked in, her face pale with concern. "Miss Adeline... there is a man at the outer gate claiming to be your family. The security team is holding him at gunpoint, but he’s making a scene, screaming that you owe him money."
Adeline’s blood ran cold.
"What is his name?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"Richard Croft," Mrs. Gable replied. "He says he’s your uncle."
Adeline stood up slowly, her hands trembling slightly as memories of her childhood came flooding back—the dark, damp apartment in South Chicago, the smell of cheap alcohol, the harsh slaps across her face whenever she didn't hand over her meager earnings from her teenage part-time jobs.
"Bring him to the reception hall," Adeline said, her tone suddenly hardening into steel. "And tell security to remain inside the room."
Five minutes later, Richard Croft was shoved into the reception hall by two burly Marchetti guards.
He looked pitiful—wearing a faded, stained jacket, his face thin and red from years of heavy drinking, his yellowed eyes scanning the marble floors and crystal chandeliers with greedy, disgusting awe.
"Adeline!" Richard gasped, seeing her standing near the fireplace in her tailored silk outfit. "Look at you! Living like a princess in a mob boss's palace while your own blood suffers!"
"You aren't my blood, Richard," Adeline said coldly, standing her ground, her arms folded across her chest. "You were my father's stepbrother who stole my inheritance the day my parents died in that car crash."
"I took you in!" Richard yelled, taking a step toward her before the guards clicked the safety catches on their pistols, making him freeze in his tracks. "I fed you for five years! And then you ran away and left me with fifty thousand dollars in gambling debts!"
"You sold my mother's jewelry to pay those debts," Adeline spat, her eyes burning with a lifetime of buried rage. "You locked me in the basement when I tried to stop you! What do you want, Richard?"
Richard wiped his mouth with his sleeve, a greasy, repulsive smile spreading across his face.
"I read the papers, Adeline," Richard sneered. "You're marrying Enzo Marchetti. The richest mobster in the Midwest. I want two million dollars. Cash. Give me the money, and I'll disappear forever. Refuse... and I'll go to the press and tell them the Don’s future wife is nothing but a thief who stole from her own uncle."
Before Adeline could answer, the heavy double doors of the hall slammed open.
Enzo Marchetti walked into the room.
His aura was so dark, so suffocating, that the temperature in the room seemed to plunge instantly. He was flanked by Dante, whose hand was already rested on the hilt of a combat knife.
"Enzo..." Adeline began, stepping toward him.
Enzo held up a hand, silencing her gently, his dark eyes never leaving the trembling, pathetic figure of Richard Croft.
"You," Enzo said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, terrifying whisper that made Richard’s knees knock together. "You are the man who hit her when she was fifteen years old."
Richard swallowed hard, backing away until his spine hit the marble pillar. "I... I was her legal guardian! I had a right to discipline—"
SMACK!
May you like
Enzo crossed the floor with terrifying speed, his gloved hand striking Richard across the face so hard the man was lifted off his feet, crashing onto the marble floor, spitting blood and teeth.
"Enzo Marchetti doesn't pay blackmail," Enzo growled, kneeling beside the weeping, groveling man, grabbing him by his coat collar. "And no one who ever put a hand on Adeline Croft walks away unpunished."
