CHAPTER 3 — THE SHADOW AT THE NORTH FENCE
CHAPTER 3 — THE SHADOW AT THE NORTH FENCE
Gunfire echoed across the estate.
One shot.
Then three more in rapid succession.
The nursery instantly erupted into chaos.
"Protect the girls!" Marco barked.
Two guards rushed in front of the twins while another pulled Dante toward the hallway.
Dante didn't move.
His eyes stayed on his daughters.
"No one touches them," he ordered. "Not until I know where the breach is."
Marco pressed a finger to the earpiece hidden beneath his collar.
"Report!"
Static crackled.
Then a voice answered.
"One intruder spotted near the north fence. Dressed in black. He's heading toward the east gardens."
"Alive?"
"We're trying."
Another burst of gunfire interrupted the transmission.
The little girls flinched.
I knelt beside Isabella and Sofia, pulling them close without thinking.
"It's okay," I whispered. "Just stay with me."
Sofia buried her face against my shoulder.
Isabella reached for my hand so tightly that her tiny fingers hurt.
"They're back," she whispered.
"Who?"
"The men from the rain."
Before I could ask another question, the mansion's lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every light on the second floor went out.
Darkness swallowed the hallway.
Only the red glow of emergency lights remained.
Marco cursed.
"They cut the power."
Dante's voice was calm.
"Backup generator."
"It should've kicked in."
"It didn't."
For the first time since arriving at the Moretti estate, I saw genuine concern spread across every guard's face.
This wasn't an accident.
Someone knew exactly how the mansion's security worked.
The emergency lights blinked.
Then they died too.
Complete darkness.
Someone screamed downstairs.
Glass shattered.
A radio hit the floor.
Every instinct told me the intruder hadn't come through the north fence.
That had only been the distraction.
"They're inside," I whispered.
Dante turned toward me.
"What?"
"They wanted everyone looking outside."
Before he could respond, a tiny voice spoke from beside me.
"The closet."
It was Sofia.
Still clinging to me.
"He hides in closets."
Every hair on the back of my neck stood up.
The nursery closet.
Without thinking, I grabbed the nearest flashlight from the doctor's bag and swung its beam toward the white double doors.
The handle moved.
Slowly.
Almost silently.
Click.
Every weapon in the room pointed at it.
The door opened an inch.
Then two.
Marco fired first.
The bullet splintered the wooden frame.
The figure inside stumbled backward.
Two guards tackled him before he could recover.
Within seconds, they dragged a masked man into the center of the nursery.
His black clothing blended perfectly with the darkness.
A suppressed pistol slid across the floor.
Dante walked forward with terrifying calm.
He pulled the mask away.
The man couldn't have been older than thirty.
A long scar crossed his left cheek.
"I don't know you," Dante said.
The intruder smiled through bloody teeth.
"But I know you."
Marco slammed him against the wall.
"Who sent you?"
No answer.
Dante crouched until they were eye level.
"You entered my daughters' bedroom."
The man's smile widened.
"They're beautiful."
The room became deadly quiet.
Dante stood.
Without raising his voice, he spoke one sentence.
"Take him downstairs."
The guards dragged the prisoner away.
As he reached the doorway, he laughed.
"You'll never find the second one."
Everyone froze.
Marco spun around.
"What second one?"
The man laughed again.
Then bit down hard.
Blood poured from his mouth.
A guard grabbed his jaw.
"He's got a cyanide capsule!"
Within seconds, the prisoner's body went limp.
Dead.
Marco swore under his breath.
"He planned to die."
Dante stared at the lifeless body without blinking.
Then he looked at the nursery.
Every window was still locked.
Every guard was present.
Yet the intruder had somehow hidden inside the closet before the lights went out.
That meant only one thing.
"He had help," Dante said quietly.
Marco nodded.
"Someone inside the estate let him in."
A traitor.
The realization spread through the room like ice.
No one spoke.
No one trusted anyone.
Then I noticed something.
The dead man's left glove had slipped halfway off.
On the inside of his wrist was a tattoo.
A black raven surrounded by a broken circle.
My breath caught.
I'd seen that symbol before.
Not in Chicago.
Not in the Moretti mansion.
In my grandmother's attic.
Hidden inside an old wooden box filled with faded letters written in Italian.
One of those letters had carried the exact same mark.
My grandmother had burned every one of them before she died.
She'd only said one thing as the flames consumed the paper.
"If you ever see this symbol again..."
"Run."
Dante noticed the look on my face.
"You know that tattoo."
It wasn't a question.
I slowly nodded.
"I've seen it before."
"Where?"
I looked down at the dead man's wrist.
Then back at Dante.
"My grandmother spent her whole life trying to make sure I never did."
Outside, thunder shook the mansion.
Inside, every eye was fixed on me.
May you like
Because for the first time...
I wasn't the only one with secrets.
