Elena's pov.
"Sam, I'm ok… I just… I can't come back, but I promise you I'll tell you everything when I see you…" I say, voice small and hoarse from crying nonstop for hours.
"Elena, you do not sound ok…," Sam yells from the other side.
I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"I'll be back, I promise…" I tell her, and I hang up, flopping on the kitchen stool.
Hunter has a big, beautiful house. Strikingly like Rio's, and the thought of him makes my insides churn.
He left a couple of hours ago, leaving me alone to process the first bit of the truth he wants to tell me. Turns out there's more to it, and I don't even think I can handle it.
He left the doors open , he gave me a choice: to either leave or stay. And I chose to stay because he isn't holding me hostage… and also because I want to know everything else.
I decide to fix something light to eat , a sandwich maybe , to keep myself busy as I wait for Hunter.
Two hours later, I'm draped on the leather couch, comforter on my legs, watching a random movie. I'm zoned out, staring into space, my mind a war zone.
The front door clicks open and I hear voices—Hunter's and others. I sit up straight and turn.
Hunter appears first. Behind him, another guy tall, blond, tattoos, broad shoulders , and a girl with long black hair and green eyes. She's beautiful.
"Hey, how you feeling?" Hunter asks, moving next to me and wrapping me in a hug. He's been gentle with me, and I find comfort being around him.
"Better, I guess…" I whisper, hugging him back and pulling away.
"Uhm, guys, this is my sister Elena…" Hunter says, and the two nod with a smile.
"Elena, this is Zoe, my girlfriend, and this is Enzo… my best friend," Hunter introduces, and I stand, greeting them.
"Hunter has been going on and on about how happy he is he finally got to his sister…" Zoe says, hugging me. I stiffen but hug her back.
"Yea, I'm glad I found him too…" I say, sitting down.
Hunter sits next to me, and Zoe and Enzo excuse themselves to chill in the backyard.
"Did you eat something?" he asks, worried look on his face because I know I look like shit , red swollen eyes, red face, messy hair.
"Yea… I uhm made a sandwich…" I say, leaning back on the couch.
He sighs and leans back, and we fall into a comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"Tell me the rest…" I whisper.
I see him from my peripheral turn to look at me, then face front again with a slight shift.
"Ok…" he whispers.
"Mom and dad disappeared for a while from Italy, where they used to stay… and that's when they had me. In… Rome…" he says, shifting a little.
I swallow and don't say a word. I let him talk.
"No one knew about me… except them and Uncle Luka , the man who took care of me when… well… when everything went sideways…" he shrugs a little, his voice dropping.
I turn slightly and look at him , his eyes distant, staring forward, his throat bobbing.
"When I turned three, that's when they went back to Italy .Luka told me their three year absence began raising eyebrows, so they had to go back inorder to keep me a secret and safe ,"
"They left me with Luka. They said they'd be back… they never came back…" his deep voice rambles in the quiet room, and I can feel my eyes water.
He sighs and breathes in.
"When they went back, that's when the operation went down… the vault, the keys… the map… and who is to be trusted with all that," he says.
I turn my eyes, eyebrows narrowing in confusion.
"Keys?.. I thought there's only one… and a map?" I ask, voice small and shaky.
He turns to face me fully. His eyes look haunted, like talking about this is chipping a piece off him.
"No, Elena… there were two keys. You have one… and Dad destroyed the other. And about the map…" he says, shifting closer to me as if we're sharing a secret, even though we're the only people around now.
"Back in Italy, things got complicated. That's why they called that last meeting. You told me you knew about that?" he asks, and I nod, remembering the visit to Texas and what Aunt Lilly said.
"So before that meeting, Dad had already been entrusted with the key and the map. So he flew back to Rome. I didn't get to see him. He met with Luka and handed him the map… because he had a feeling things would get out of hand…" he says.
"Luka told me about it, and I remember I was pissed…" he laughs a little, but there's no warmth.
"Because I kept thinking—why would my own dad come back to Rome and not come to see me? But Luka explained later, when I got older, the complexity of the matter… that Dad didn't have time and he didn't want anyone to know he was in Rome…" he says.
He goes quiet for a second and leans back on the couch.
I nod for him to continue.
"So… things happened how they did. Dad assassinated first, then Mom… I didn't even know about your existence until waaay later. Luka told me about you just before he… died…" he whispers that part with so much hurt it breaks something in me.
I want to ask how he died, but what he says next blows my mind… and breaks me at the same time.
"Elena… Luka told me Dad was a peaceful man, a man of principle. He knew how dangerous it would be if that vault landed in the wrong hands… it would bring chaos. So he knew his end was coming soon… anyway…"
"Long story short, Luka was a tattoo artist. He's done most of mine…" he smiles faintly, and I smile because, well, his tattoos do look good.
"I asked him to tattoo the map on me…" he whispers, and I snap my head toward him. Because huh?..
"Carrying it around would have been inconvenient. It could get lost… stolen maybe… so I had it drawn on my back…" he says.
"Luka died a day after completing the tattoo and watching me burn the physical map… he uhm… pulled the trigger on himself…" he says, and my heart breaks into tiny little pieces.
"Why?" I ask, although it's a stupid question.
"Apparently it was a deal he made with Dad. Once I knew everything, he was supposed to murder himself…he left me a letter stating that " he says, shaking his head, eyes glossy and wet.
"I have never understood why… but that's something I'll never forgive Father for…" he adds, voice hurt and raspy, and you can see how much Luka meant to him.
"Am so sorry…" I coo, shifting closer and wrapping him in a hug. He hugs me back, burying his face in my hair, breathing out a choked sob. I hold him, wiping my own tears.
We pull back from the hug.
"Show me… the tattoo…" I whisper.
He nods.
I swallow as I watch him turn around, his back facing me. His hand lifts his shirt, peeling it off… and I literally gasp, hand on my mouth when I see it.
"Oh my God…" I whisper.