Collateral For The Mafia Boss

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ut; he was weighing me. He glanced at the smudge of flour on my cheek and the dark circles under my eyes, calculating exactly how much I was worth. "Dante Morelli," he said. The name hit me like a cold draft. I'd heard it whispered in the back of the shop, usually followed by a quick sign of the cross. I should have run. I should have screamed. Instead, I just stared at his hands. He flipped the folder open. A single sheet of paper slid across the counter toward me. I saw my father's sprawling, messy signature at the bottom. Then I saw the number next to it. My breath hitched. I leaned in, certain I'd misplaced a decimal point. I checked it once. Twice. My brain refused to process the amount of zeros. "This deal is none of my business. My father made this deal with you. Collect what he owes you. I'm not a part of this." I stated. I wasn't going to let him walk all over me. My father did this and only my father would bear the consequences. "It is," Dante replied. "There's a mistake. My father doesn't have this kind of money." "There is no mistake, Sofia." "He doesn't live here anymore," I said, my voice rising as panic finally started to claw at my throat. "He hasn't been back in months. You should be talking to him, not me." "I'm aware of that," Dante said. "But I'm not here for him." I pushed the folder back toward Dante, my hands shaking. "This has nothing to do with me. Take the bakery. Take the ovens, the property, the flour. Just take it and go." "I don't want the bakery, Sofia." "Take it anyway! Sell it!" "I won't." My pulse kicked once, hard enough to hurt. "Then what do you want? I don't have anything else." Dante let a long, deliberate silence hang in the air. He let me stew in my own fear until the ticking of the wall clock sounded like a hammer. "The debt is structured with a specific 'fallback' clause," Dante said quietly. "Which is?" He didn't blink, "You are the collateral" A cold, sick feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. "What does that mean?" "In simpler terms, your father owe