**Elena’s POV**

The name Lorusso didn't just hang in the air; it poisoned it.

Raffaele sat there, watching the realization shatter me. His green eyes were as cold as a winter sea, flat and unmoving. As the truth sank in, a sudden, violent heat surged through my veins, an anger so pure and hot that it burned away the exhaustion, the hunger, and the cold.

My mother.

This man, with his sharp suit and his jagged scar, had snuffed her out like she was nothing.

I began to struggle against the ropes ...