Chapter 2 - The Attack on the Fiftieth Floor
“Stay behind me.”
Vivien laughed once, breathlessly.
“You locked me in a room and now you’re giving instructions?”
“Correct.”
“That isn't reassuring.”
“It wasn't meant to be.”
Lorenzo crossed to a concealed panel beside the bookshelf.
He pressed his thumb against a scanner.
A section of dark wood opened.
Vivien stared.
“Secret passage?”
“Safe room.”
“Of course you have a safe room.”
Lorenzo touched his earpiece.
“Marco.”
Static.
Then a voice.
“Thirty-eighth floor compromised. Elevators disabled.”
“Casualties?”
“Unknown.”
“Police?”
“Seven minutes.”
Lorenzo’s expression hardened.
“Too long.”
Vivien looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because whoever planned this knew exactly how long Boston police response would take.”
Her face changed.
“My father.”
“I didn't say that.”
“You didn't have to.”
Another alarm sounded.
Lorenzo motioned toward the hidden room.
“Inside.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Vivien.”
“You have evidence against my father. I want all of it.”
“You can demand documents after we're alive.”
“I spent twenty-four years doing what Arthur Hastings told me. I'm finished hiding in rooms while men decide what happens to me.”
Something almost like approval crossed Lorenzo’s face.
“Fine.”
He removed a tablet from his desk.
“Come here.”
Vivien approached.
Security footage filled the screen.
Men in maintenance uniforms had entered the building hours earlier.
One had used an access badge.
Vivien leaned closer.
“Stop.”
Lorenzo paused the video.
She pointed.
“That badge.”
“What about it?”
“The seal.”
“State Senate.”
“No. My father's personal office uses gold seals. That's silver.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“Whose office uses silver?”
“His chief of staff.”
“Name?”
“Daniel Mercer.”
Lorenzo immediately called Marco.
“Find Mercer.”
Vivien caught his wrist.
“Wait.”
Lorenzo looked at her hand.
She released him.
“If Daniel is involved, my father may not be controlling this.”
“You're defending him?”
“No. I'm refusing to make the same mistake he made.”
“What mistake?”
“Assuming powerful men are telling the truth.”
For the first time, Lorenzo smiled fully.
“There you are.”
“There who is?”
“The woman your father warned me about.”
The smile vanished as footsteps sounded outside.
Vivien heard voices.
Then someone tried the door.
Her breath caught.
Lorenzo raised one finger.
Silence.
The handle moved again.
“Mr. Moretti?” a voice called.
Lorenzo relaxed slightly.
“Marco?”
“Yeah.”
Lorenzo unlocked the door.
A broad-shouldered man entered with two security officers.
“We've got a route through the service stairwell.”
Lorenzo nodded toward Vivien.
“She stays between us.”
Vivien folded her arms.
“She can hear you.”
Marco glanced at Lorenzo.
“She always like this?”
“You have no idea.”
They moved into the hallway.
Smoke drifted from the stairwell below.
Vivien looked at Lorenzo.
“You knew I wouldn't sign the contract, didn't you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why agree to it?”
“I didn't.”
She stopped.
“What?”
Lorenzo kept walking.
“Arthur brought me the proposal.”
“But your signature—”
“Wasn't mine.”
Vivien stared.
“The contract was fake?”
“The debt wasn't.”
“Then why let me believe—”
“Because I needed to know what your father was doing.”
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate.
Vivien’s jaw tightened.
“At least you're honest.”
“Usually.”
“That's not a compliment.”
“I didn't take it as one.”
They reached the emergency stairs.
Marco opened the door.
Then Vivien’s phone rang.
Everyone stopped.
She looked at the screen.
DAD.
Lorenzo held out his hand.
“Speaker.”
Vivien answered.
“Dad?”
Arthur Hastings sounded panicked.
“Vivien, listen to me. You need to get away from Moretti.”
She stared at Lorenzo.
“Why?”
“Because Lorenzo arranged the attack.”
Lorenzo's expression didn't change.
Arthur continued.
“He's going to blame me for everything.”
Vivien looked at the evidence still clutched in her hand.
“Where are you?”
Silence.
“Dad?”
Then Arthur said quietly:
“I'm coming to get you.”
Lorenzo leaned toward the phone.
“No, Senator.”
Arthur stopped breathing.
Lorenzo’s voice became ice.
May you like
“You're coming to explain yourself.”
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