Chapter 3 - Dinner Never Happened
Elena stood motionless in the dark corridor.
A door clicked downstairs.
Then another.
Someone whispered.
“Kitchen clear.”
Elena’s eyes narrowed.
Whoever had entered knew the house.
She slipped off her shoes and moved silently toward the service staircase.
A hand suddenly covered her mouth.
Elena drove her elbow backward.
“Easy!”
Marco.
She twisted free.
“Touch me like that again and you’ll lose teeth.”
“People are inside the house.”
“I noticed.”
“Go upstairs.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“Where’s Dante?”
“Office.”
“Then why are you going toward the kitchen?”
Marco stopped.
Elena stared at him.
“They want you to.”
“What?”
“The staff entrance is obvious. Too obvious.”
Another sound came from below.
Glass breaking.
Elena whispered, “They want security downstairs.”
Marco understood.
“The office.”
They ran.
Two corridors away, Dante stood behind his desk with a pistol lowered beside his leg.
His dinner jacket was gone. Sleeves rolled up.
When Elena entered, his expression changed.
“What are you doing here?”
“Apparently missing dinner.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I’m aware.”
Marco locked the door.
“They’re drawing security downstairs.”
Dante looked at Elena.
“You figured that out?”
“Later.”
A faint electronic beep came from the wall.
Elena turned.
“What was that?”
Dante’s face changed.
“The private elevator.”
Marco cursed.
The elevator connected the garage directly to the office level.
Only a handful of people knew the access code.
“Who has the code?” Elena asked.
“Me. Marco. My attorney. My brother.”
Elena looked between them.
“Your brother?”
Dante said nothing.
The elevator doors opened.
A man stepped out.
Tall.
Gray suit.
No weapon visible.
Dante’s face became stone.
“Adrian.”
Adrian Moretti smiled.
“Brother.”
Marco raised his gun.
Adrian lifted both hands.
“If I wanted Dante dead, Marco, you wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Dante stepped around the desk.
“You disabled my security.”
“Yes.”
“You sent men into my home.”
“Yes.”
“Give me one reason not to end this conversation.”
Adrian’s smile disappeared.
“Because someone plans to kill you tonight.”
Elena stared at him.
“You expect us to believe you?”
Adrian finally noticed her.
“And you are?”
“The person asking the question.”
Dante almost smiled despite himself.
Adrian looked back at his brother.
“Still collecting strays?”
Elena’s expression hardened.
Dante’s voice dropped.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Adrian noticed the warning.
Interesting.
“The driver you caught worked for Victor Sanz,” Adrian said.
Marco stiffened.
Dante’s jaw tightened.
Elena asked, “Who’s Victor?”
“A man who wants what belongs to me,” Dante said.
Adrian shook his head.
“No. He wants you dead.”
“Difference?”
“Yes.”
Adrian reached slowly inside his jacket.
Marco raised his weapon.
“Slow.”
Adrian produced a phone.
He placed it on the desk.
A photograph filled the screen.
Dante leaving a restaurant.
Another showed his car.
Another showed the estate.
The final photograph showed Elena outside a grocery store.
Dante went completely still.
Elena stared at the image.
“When?”
“Yesterday,” Adrian said.
Dante looked at Marco.
“How did they know about her?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian answered.
“Because someone closer than the driver is still feeding Sanz information.”
A crash sounded outside.
Then footsteps.
Marco moved toward the door.
Elena caught his sleeve.
“No.”
“What?”
“Listen.”
They did.
Nothing.
Elena whispered, “That’s the problem.”
Dante looked at her.
She pointed toward the vent above the bookcase.
A faint metallic scraping came from inside.
Marco’s eyes widened.
“Maintenance corridor.”
The hidden passage behind the office connected to the old servants’ staircase.
Someone was already behind them.
The bookcase shifted.
Dante grabbed Elena and pulled her aside just as the panel opened.
Marco tackled the intruder.
Adrian slammed the door shut behind him.
Seconds later, Marco had the masked man pinned.
Dante crouched beside him.
“Who sent you?”
The man remained silent.
Elena noticed something on his wrist.
A black security band.
She looked at Marco.
“Those are yours.”
Marco stared.
Every Moretti guard wore the same encrypted access band.
Dante slowly stood.
“Take off his mask.”
Marco did.
Everyone froze.
Dante knew the man.
“Paul.”
Paul had worked estate security for nine years.
Dante’s expression hardened.
“How many?”
Paul smiled.
“Enough.”
Then the lights came back on.
Dante looked toward the window.
Vehicles were retreating through the gates.
The attack was over.
Too quickly.
Elena understood first.
“They weren’t trying to kill you.”
Dante turned.
“What?”
“They wanted you looking at the attack.”
She pointed at Paul.
“He wanted to get inside this office.”
Marco searched him.
Nothing.
Then Elena looked toward Dante’s desk.
One drawer stood slightly open.
“What was in there?”
Dante crossed the room.
His face changed.
“A ledger.”
“Important?”
“It contains names.”
Adrian swore.
Dante looked at Paul.
“Where is it?”
Paul smiled again.
“Already gone.”
Dante stepped toward him.
Elena moved between them.
“Don’t.”
“Elena.”
“If you lose your temper, he wins.”
“This is not your business.”
“You made it my business when someone photographed me.”
Silence.
Dante looked at her.
She didn’t move.
Finally he turned to Marco.
“Lock Paul downstairs.”
Marco dragged him away.
Adrian followed.
At the door, he glanced at Elena.
“You tell my brother no often?”
“Constantly.”
“And you’re still alive?”
“So far.”
Adrian laughed once and left.
Dante and Elena were alone.
He looked at the untouched dinner table visible through the adjoining room.
“You should leave.”
“Leave the room?”
“Chicago.”
Elena stared at him.
“No.”
“They know your face.”
“Still no.”
“I’ll give you enough money to disappear.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“You’re trying to buy the problem away.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“Then say that.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“Elena—”
“Say what you mean.”
For several seconds, the powerful man said nothing.
Then:
“I don’t want you hurt because of me.”
Elena’s expression softened.
Barely.
“That,” she said, “was almost human.”
Dante exhaled.
“You are exhausting.”
“You invited me to dinner.”
“I’m beginning to regret it.”
“Liar.”
Dante looked at her.
May you like
For once, he had no answer.
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