Chapter 6
The first shot hit the front fountain.
Stone burst into white dust.
Leo woke screaming.
I ran back into the study as Sofia pulled him from the sofa.
“Safe room,” I ordered.
Leo clung to me.
“Dad!”
“I’m right behind you.”
That was a lie.
And I hated myself for it.
Marco took Sofia and Leo through the hidden corridor behind the bookcase.
I stayed with Grace.
She had Elena’s notebook pressed against her chest.
“If they get this, everything dies with her,” she said.
“Then they don’t get it.”
My men returned fire outside.
The house shook with shouting, breaking glass, alarms.
This was not a warning.
This was a cleanup.
I moved through the east hall and saw Javier being dragged by two guards.
His face lit with hope when he heard the attack.
“You called them,” I said.
He laughed through blood on his lip.
“You think you’re the boss because people call you that? Your father made promises before you ever had a son.”
I stepped close.
“What promises?”
“That Leo would be shaped properly. That Elena would be removed. That you would be handled if grief made you difficult.”
My chest burned.
“My father ordered her death?”
Javier smiled.
“Your father ordered loyalty. Victor interpreted the rest.”
I wanted to end him there.
Instead I did what Elena would have wanted.
I let him live long enough to testify.
“Take him to the basement vault,” I told the guards.
Outside, engines roared closer.
Grace grabbed my arm.
“Dante, they’re not here for you.”
I knew.
They wanted Leo.
I ran to the safe room entrance.
The corridor was empty.
Too empty.
Then Sofia’s voice came over the radio.
“Dante, they knew the safe route.”
My breath stopped.
“Where is Leo?”
Static.
Then my son’s voice, tiny and terrified.
“Dad?”
May you like
A man took the radio.
“Come alone, Dante. Bring the notebook.”
