CHAPTER 4

The scent of fresh flowers filled the air, but for Elena, the perfume no longer brought the same comfort it once had. The shop, once a sanctuary, now felt claustrophobic and oppressive, as if the walls were closing in with each passing day. She hadn't seen Lorenzo since their brief, unsettling encounter, but she could still feel his presence lurking at the edges of her thoughts. There was something in the way he looked at her—something both familiar and terrifying—that kept her on edge.

It wasn't just Lorenzo, though. Recently, she had noticed unfamiliar figures loitering near the shop, their eyes following her every move, a silent threat that seemed to grow with each passing day. Elena's sense of security was slipping away like sand through her fingers. What did it all mean? Why had her life been turned upside down so suddenly?

The door chimed, and Elena looked up from her work, her heart racing in her chest. This time, it wasn't just any customer. It was her parents.

They stepped inside with their luggages, their faces worn and tired from their long trip. The warmth that Elena had always associated with their presence felt distant now, replaced by an underlying tension that crackled in the air, evident in the way her father avoided her gaze and her mother's smile faltered. Her father, the once-strong patriarch of their family, looked older than she remembered, his eyes shadowed by something unspoken. Her mother, ever elegant, wore a faint, strained smile, but there was a tightness in her posture that Elena didn't miss.

"We're back, sweetheart," her father said, his voice weary but kind.

Her mother caught her eye, her expression faltering. "Where is Rafael? There's something we need to tell you both," she said softly, almost apologetically.

Elena's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly. All the fear and tension from past days catching up to her already distressed self.

Her father exchanged a glance with her mother, then sighed, as though the weight of the words had been lingering on his tongue for far too long. "Elena, we've… we've been hiding the truth from you. You are—"

The sharp chime from the door interrupted them, and Elena instantly became distracted. She could feel the shift in the air, his presence and knew who it was before she even turned to face the door. Only one man has such ability to make his presence known with his overwhelming aura.

Lorenzo.

Her mother stiffened, her eyes flickering nervously toward the entrance. Elena's father's face also hardened, a shift that Elena recognized immediately. These were the same expressions they wore when something dangerous was about to surface.

Lorenzo stepped into the shop without waiting for an invitation, his presence casting a long shadow that seemed to swallow the light, amplifying the tension that gripped Elena's heart. His gaze swept over Elena and her parents, a faint, inscrutable smile tugging at his lips.

"Elena," he said, his voice smooth as ever, "I see you parents are back from their trip."

Elena froze, her gaze shifting from her parents to Lorenzo, wondering what the connection between them actually is. The tension in the room thickened, almost suffocating her.

Her father took a step forward, his expression hardening. "You've come at a difficult time, Mr. DeLuca." Elena eyes widened at the mention of Lorenzo's family name from her father. She hadn't even introduced him yet.

Lorenzo raised an eyebrow, his posture relaxed, almost too casual. "I'm sure it's nothing that can't be resolved, Signor Delacroix. We've been… acquainted long enough for you to know how I prefer things to be handled."

Elena watched her father's jaw tighten at Lorenzo's words, and her mother shifting uncomfortably, her eyes avoiding the confrontation. But it wasn't just the unease in the room that had Elena on edge—it was the icy menace in Lorenzo's voice, a chilling promise of what was to come. He wasn't here for a social call, and Elena could feel the storm brewing.

"What do you want, Lorenzo?" her father finally asked, his voice low and edged with tension.

Lorenzo's smile faltered, and he looked at Elena with a gaze that seemed to pierce straight through her. "I've already made my intentions clear. The time had come and it's time to settle the debt, or… we find another way to resolve things."

Her parents' silence was deafening. Elena's heart pounded in her chest, the weight of Lorenzo's words settling over her like a blanket of dread. Her parents had always been so careful, so protective, but now they were cornered, and it was clear they hadn't told her everything.

"What debt?" Elena asked, her voice coming out sharper than she intended.

Her father didn't look at her. "It's not for you to worry about," he said, his voice strained. "It's a matter of the past, something we've tried to put behind us."

Lorenzo's gaze never left Elena as he answered. "The past has a way of catching up with us, doesn't it?"

Her mother moved to stand beside her father, her voice trembling. "Elena, we've been hiding this from you for a long time. We never wanted you to worry, but now… now it's out of our hands."

Elena's mind was spinning, the pieces of the puzzle scattering, refusing to form a coherent picture. There was a debt, something tied to her family's old life, and it was coming due now. But what did it have to do with Lorenzo?

As if reading her thoughts, Lorenzo finally spoke again. "The Delacroix family owes the DeLuca family a great deal of resources. A debt that was incurred when they were still in the business."

The words hit Elena like a blow to the chest. The DeLucas. Her parents had been tied to his family—tied to the mafia. She couldn't wrap her head around this newfound information, staggeringly, she moved to sit as her legs couldn't hold her up anymore.

Her father's face hardened. "We've tried to distance ourselves from that life, but some debts can't be erased."

"Yes, we tried." Her mother echoed after her father.

Elena's world tilted, the weight of the revelation crushing her chest. The life she'd thought she knew—the safe, quiet existence—was a lie, constructed on a foundation of hidden betrayals and shadowy pasts.

Her hands trembled as she clenched them tightly, her fingernails digging through her flesh. She felt lightheaded, the room spinning around her.

Lorenzo's smile widened slightly as he glanced at her father. "I'll be in touch soon, Signor Delacroix. We'll discuss how you plan to repay what's owed."

As he turned to leave, his eyes met Elena's once more, and for a moment, his cold facade cracked, and she saw raw longing and something darker, more personal. It was as though he were looking at her for the first time, seeing her not as a girl who had forgotten, but as someone who was about to be dragged back into a world she didn't understand.

"Don't forget, Elena," he said softly, his voice laced with warning, "the past doesn't let go so easily."

With that, he was gone, leaving only the heavy silence in his wake.

Elena turned to her parents, her voice trembling. "What does this all mean? What do we owe them?"

Her father's face was unreadable. "I'll explain everything, Elena, but not now."

Elena wanted to demand of her father the explanation but decided against it and went to comfort her trembling and weeping mother.

Her mother's eyes already puffy from tears. "It wasn't just money, Elena. It was… everything." Elena sighed as she patted her mother on the back.

The storm had only just begun, and Elena had no idea how much darker it would get before it was over.