The Genius Heiress They Tried To Break Elena Russo amd Luca

I stood outside the Genovese estate in the freezing rain for two hours, waiting for the man I loved to let me in.

I was Elena Russo, the brilliant forensic accountant who had just laundered forty million dollars for the family. I was the adopted daughter, the fixer, and the fiancée of the Underboss, Luca.

But the moment Sofia, the "real" daughter, returned, I became nothing but a placeholder.

Luca looked me in the eye, swirling his scotch, and delivered the blow.

"I need you to hand your work over to Sofia. She needs the prestige to be accepted by the Commission."

He demanded I give up my life’s work—a complex laundering algorithm—so his new favorite could take the credit.

When I refused, the humiliation began.

Sofia faked a fall into the pool, and my adoptive father kicked me into the deep end to "teach me a lesson."

I nearly drowned.

Luca didn't save me. He handed me a diving mask and told me to find Sofia's lost ring at the bottom of the freezing pool before I was allowed to warm up.

They stole my code. They ruined my reputation at the university. They slapped me in front of the press.

They thought I was a stray dog with nowhere to go.

They were wrong.

Lying in the hospital bed, I dialed a number I had memorized years ago.

"This is Asset 724," I whispered. "I'm ready to come home."

The next day, the Russo empire began to crumble.

And when a convoy of black SUVs arrived to collect me, Luca finally realized his mistake.

My real father wasn't a nobody.

He was Don Moretti, the King of the West Coast.

And he was here to burn their world to ash.

Chapter 1

The iron gates of the Genovese estate loomed before me, a black metal barrier between me and the only man I had ever loved, while the freezing rain soaked through my silk blouse and turned my skin to ice.

I had been standing here for two hours.

I had been pressing the buzzer until my fingers went numb, knowing that Luca was inside. Knowing he saw me on the security monitors. And knowing he simply didn't care enough to press the button that would let me in.

I wasn't just a woman waiting in the rain. I was Elena Russo.

I was the adopted daughter of the Russo crime family, the fiancée of the Genovese Underboss, and the brilliant forensic accountant who had just laundered forty million dollars of their dirty money without leaving a single digital footprint.

But tonight, I was just a nuisance.

The buzzer finally sounded—a harsh, grating noise.

The heavy gates groaned open. I didn't run. I walked, my heels clicking on the wet pavement, shivering violently as I made my way to the massive oak front doors.

The door swung open before my fist could even graze the wood.

Luca stood there. He looked impeccable. His white shirt was crisp, unbuttoned at the collar to reveal the tanned skin of his throat, his dark hair perfectly styled. He held a glass of scotch in one hand and looked at me with an expression that wasn't hate, but something far worse.

Indifference.

"You're late," he said, turning his back on me and walking into the warmth of the foyer.

I followed him, dripping water onto the pristine marble floor. My teeth chattered so hard I couldn't form words immediately. I needed a towel. I needed warmth. I needed him to look at me and see the woman who had cleaned up his reckless tactical mistakes for eleven years.