Chapter 3 - The Traitor Inside the House
Dante sent almost everyone from the room.
Only Marco and I remained.
He sat beside Leo.
“Who said Mommy told him?”
Leo squeezed the blanket.
“The man in the car.”
“What did he look like?”
Leo shook his head.
Dante didn’t push.
“Okay.”
Leo looked at me.
“Willa?”
“I’m here.”
He reached for my hand.
Dante watched.
“Tell us what you remember,” I said gently.
Leo stared at our hands.
“He had a ring.”
“What kind?”
“A lion.”
Marco’s head snapped toward Dante.
They exchanged a look.
I noticed.
“What?”
Dante stood.
“Marco.”
“I know.”
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
Dante ignored me.
“Double security at the house.”
“Already done.”
“Remove everyone from Leo’s staff until I personally clear them.”
Marco nodded.
I stood.
“Dante.”
He looked at me.
It was the first time I had used his first name.
“What does the lion mean?”
“A family crest.”
“Whose?”
His silence answered before he did.
“My wife’s family.”
I looked toward Leo.
“His mother?”
Dante nodded.
“Is she—”
“Dead.”
The room became quiet.
Leo’s eyes closed.
Dante lowered his voice.
“Three years ago.”
Later that morning, Dante insisted on taking Leo home.
To my surprise, Leo insisted on taking me too.
“I have an apartment.”
Dante glanced at my wet uniform.
“And apparently no coat.”
“It’s around your son.”
“I noticed.”
“I also have work tonight.”
“No.”
I blinked.
“No?”
“You were seen with Leo.”
“So?”
“If whoever took him knows you found him, you’re a witness.”
“I didn’t see anything.”
“They may not know that.”
That changed things.
“You think I’m in danger?”
“Yes.”
“Because I helped your son?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Leo.
He was sleeping in the hospital bed.
“Great.”
Dante folded his arms.
“You’ll stay at my house until this is resolved.”
“Your house?”
“It’s secure.”
“You mean the place where someone inside your circle apparently betrayed you?”
Dante stared at me.
Marco looked away, hiding another smile.
“You enjoy this,” Dante said.
“What?”
“Making my men nervous.”
“I’m trying not to have a nervous breakdown myself.”
That afternoon, I arrived at the Valenti estate.
Calling it a house would have been ridiculous.
Stone walls.
Iron gates.
Security cameras.
Men at every entrance.
Leo’s room was larger than my entire apartment.
He refused to sleep unless I sat nearby.
So I stayed.
Around seven that evening, Dante appeared.
“He likes you.”
“He barely knows me.”
“He trusts you.”
“That’s different.”
Dante leaned against the doorway.
“Leo hasn’t trusted strangers since his mother died.”
I looked at him.
“What happened to her?”
His expression closed.
“Car accident.”
Something in the way he said it made me suspicious.
Before I could ask more, Marco appeared.
“Boss.”
Dante stepped into the hallway.
I followed.
Marco held a tablet.
“We found the construction site.”
“And?”
“Security camera across the street caught part of it.”
He played the footage.
A dark vehicle stopped.
A small figure stumbled out.
Leo.
Then another figure exited.
Following him.
The image was blurry.
But the man’s hand became visible beneath a streetlight.
A ring flashed.
Lion crest.
Dante’s jaw tightened.
Marco froze the image.
“I know that coat.”
Dante looked at him.
“So do I.”
“Who is it?” I asked.
Neither answered.
Then a voice came from behind us.
“What are you all looking at?”
Dante slowly turned.
An older man stood at the end of the hallway.
Gray hair.
Tailored suit.
Silver cane.
And on his right hand—
A lion ring.
Leo screamed from inside the bedroom.
“No!”
The older man stopped.
Dante stepped between him and the door.
May you like
“Uncle Sebastian.”
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