Chapter 3 - The Man Inside the Mansion
Sofia had just reached the foyer when every security shutter dropped.
Nico screamed.
The sound instantly transported him somewhere else.
“No! No!”
He fell to the floor and covered his ears.
Sofia dropped beside him.
“Nico. Look at me.”
“No!”
“Nico!”
He couldn't hear her.
The alarm kept screaming.
She grabbed his face gently.
“Captain.”
His eyes found hers.
“The castle needs you.”
He shook.
“Bad men?”
“I don't know.”
“Mommy—”
“Your daddy is here.”
That worked.
Nico looked toward the front doors.
“Daddy?”
“He's here.”
A guard rushed past.
Sofia grabbed his sleeve.
“What happened?”
“Ma'am, stay in the foyer.”
“That's not an answer.”
“Interior motion sensor. West service corridor.”
Her stomach tightened.
The west corridor connected to the kitchens.
And Nico's bedroom.
“Come on.”
She lifted him.
Halfway up the stairs, footsteps pounded below.
Lorenzo entered with Matteo.
“Sofia!”
“Here!”
Lorenzo crossed the foyer fast.
Nico reached toward him.
“Daddy!”
Lorenzo took him immediately.
“I'm here.”
“You came back.”
The words almost stopped Lorenzo.
He held his son tighter.
“I told you.”
Matteo spoke into his radio.
“Team Three, report.”
Static.
Then—
“West corridor clear.”
“Basement?”
“Checking.”
Lorenzo handed Nico back to Sofia.
“Take him to my room.”
“Why your room?”
“Reinforced walls.”
Sofia stared at him.
“That's a sentence I never expected to hear.”
“Sofia.”
She nodded.
“Come on, Nico.”
They disappeared upstairs.
Matteo turned to Lorenzo.
“Three guards are unaccounted for.”
“Which three?”
“Elliot, Barnes, and Mercer.”
Lorenzo's face changed.
“Mercer worked the east gate last night.”
“Yes.”
“Find him.”
They reached the security room.
Two camera feeds were dead.
Matteo swore.
“Somebody knew the blind spots.”
Lorenzo examined the screen.
“Or created them.”
One feed suddenly flickered.
A man in a security uniform crossed the kitchen.
Mercer.
Matteo leaned forward.
“Got him.”
Lorenzo watched carefully.
Mercer wasn't leaving.
He was moving deeper into the house.
Toward the stairs.
“Lock the second-floor doors.”
Matteo hit the controls.
Too late.
Mercer disappeared off camera.
Lorenzo turned.
“Stay here.”
“Boss—”
“My son is upstairs.”
Lorenzo was already gone.
He reached the second floor.
Empty hallway.
Then he heard Sofia's voice.
“Stop.”
Lorenzo rounded the corner.
Mercer stood twenty feet from his bedroom.
Sofia was between him and the door.
She held a heavy brass lamp in both hands.
Mercer smiled.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Sofia.”
Lorenzo's voice carried across the hallway.
Mercer spun.
His hand moved inside his jacket.
Lorenzo stopped.
“Don't.”
Mercer froze.
Lorenzo's expression was terrifyingly calm.
“You were paid to protect my family.”
Mercer laughed nervously.
“Greco pays better.”
“Not enough.”
“You don't understand what's happening.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No. You think this is revenge for Bianca?”
Lorenzo's jaw tightened.
Mercer smiled.
“Ask Matteo who changed her route that night.”
Silence.
Sofia looked at Lorenzo.
“What is he talking about?”
Mercer continued.
“Your wife wasn't supposed to be on Harbor Road.”
Lorenzo took one step forward.
“Who changed it?”
Mercer backed toward the stairs.
“Ask your best friend.”
Then the bedroom door opened.
Nico stepped out.
“Daddy?”
Everything changed.
Mercer looked at the boy.
Sofia moved instantly.
She grabbed Nico and pulled him behind her.
Lorenzo's voice dropped.
“Mercer.”
Mercer looked back.
“You just made the worst mistake of your life.”
Two guards appeared behind him.
Matteo's voice followed.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Mercer's face drained.
He was surrounded.
Minutes later, the security team dragged him downstairs.
Sofia kept Nico inside Lorenzo's bedroom.
When Lorenzo returned, she was furious.
“You left him alone in there?”
“He was supposed to stay locked inside.”
“He's five.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Lorenzo stared at her.
Sofia lowered her voice.
“You can't run toward every threat and expect a five-year-old to understand why.”
“I had to stop Mercer.”
“And what if Mercer was a distraction?”
That silenced him.
Sofia stepped closer.
“You have guards.”
“My guards just betrayed me.”
“One guard betrayed you.”
“Possibly more.”
“Then choose people you trust.”
Lorenzo laughed once without humor.
“Trust gets people killed.”
“Maybe.”
She looked toward the bedroom.
“But never trusting anyone is killing something too.”
Before Lorenzo could respond, Matteo arrived.
“Boss.”
Lorenzo turned.
“Where's Mercer?”
“Secure.”
“What did he say?”
Matteo looked toward Sofia.
“She stays,” Lorenzo said.
Matteo nodded reluctantly.
“He says Salvatore Greco didn't order Bianca's hit.”
Lorenzo's eyes went cold.
“Then who did?”
“He won't say.”
Sofia crossed her arms.
“But he said Matteo changed the route.”
Matteo slowly looked at her.
Then at Lorenzo.
“I did.”
The hallway became silent.
Lorenzo stepped toward him.
“Explain.”
“Bianca called me that night. She wanted to avoid photographers outside the charity gala.”
“You never told me.”
“She made me promise.”
“You changed her route.”
“Yes.”
“And Greco's men somehow knew the new route.”
Matteo's face tightened.
“I don't know how.”
Lorenzo stared at the man who had served him for fifteen years.
His closest friend.
Godfather to his son.
For the first time, suspicion entered his eyes.
Matteo saw it.
“You think I sold her out?”
“I don't know what to think.”
Matteo took a step back.
“That may be worse.”
Sofia looked between them.
Then Nico appeared again.
“Daddy?”
Lorenzo turned.
Nico held up Gerald the stuffed giraffe.
“Can we finish the fort?”
Three adults stood in a hallway surrounded by betrayal, revenge, and fear.
Lorenzo looked at his son.
“Yes.”
Matteo blinked.
“Boss?”
Lorenzo ignored him.
He walked into the bedroom.
“We finish the fort.”
Nico smiled.
Sofia followed.
Matteo remained alone in the hallway.
May you like
And for the first time in fifteen years, Lorenzo closed the door on him.
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