Chapter 6 - The Breach of the Inner Keep
The heavy winter snowstorm had intensified outside, howling against the reinforced glass windows of the Duca estate like a chorus of trapped ghosts. Inside, the emergency lighting cast long, flickering amber shadows across the polished marble floors.
Marco moved swiftly down the corridor toward the east wing playroom where Emma and Mrs. Gable had gone. His boots made no sound on the runner rug. His gun was raised, safety clicked off.
As he rounded the corner, he saw the heavy mahogany door to the playroom standing slightly ajar. A thin strip of light spilled out onto the floor.
He pushed the door open with the barrel of his pistol.
Mrs. Gable was tied to a sturdy wooden chair in the corner, a thick strip of duct tape across her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. But the room was empty of children.
On the windowsill, a window had been unlatched from the inside, letting in a gust of freezing winter air and swirling snowflakes. Tied to the window latch was a small, familiar gray object.
Emma’s stuffed rabbit. One of its ears had been torn completely off.
Marco’s heart hammered against his ribs with brutal force. They had taken her. Baron’s men had breached the estate through an inside contact, bypassed the primary sensors using internal override codes, and snatched the child to use as leverage against Lorenzo.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed behind him in the hallway.
Marco spun around, raising his weapon—but stopped instantly.
It was Lorenzo.
His black overcoat was dusted with snow, his face carved from pure, unadulterated rage. Behind him stood his core elite security squad, weapons drawn and ready for war. Lorenzo’s eyes scanned the empty playroom, landed on Mrs. Gable tied to the chair, and finally rested on the torn rabbit hanging from the window latch.
The air in the room dropped to an absolute freezing point. No one dared to breathe.
“Who?” Lorenzo’s voice was barely a whisper, but it carried the terrifying resonance of an approaching avalanche.
Marco stepped forward, his face grim as he reached into his coat and handed Lorenzo two things: the silver locket and the internal forensic report.
“They took her, Boss,” Marco said quietly. “And they didn't bypass our security from the outside. The override code used on Sector Four came from the main security console in the basement armory. Only three people have the master clearance code: you, me, and...”
Marco paused, his jaw tightening.
“And Victor Vance.”
Lorenzo looked down at the locket in his palm, then at the forensic report detailing the sabotage of his daughter Lily’s car three years ago. The name at the bottom of the report—obscured by coffee stains earlier—was suddenly crystal clear in his mind. Dr. Julian Vance, the family physician who had treated Lily, who had patched up Lorenzo’s wounds after every turf war, and who had covertly prescribed the addictive sedatives that kept the household compliant.
“Julian,” Lorenzo said softly, the name tasting like ash on his tongue.
“He’s working with Baron,” Marco confirmed. “He orchestrated the debt trap for Grace to test our perimeter, and when Emma accidentally stumbled upon the hidden desk drawer upstairs and found the locket, Julian realized they had been exposed. He took the child and headed for the old boathouse at the northern edge of the property.”
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Lorenzo closed his fist around the silver locket so tightly that the metal edges bit deep into his leather-gloved palm.
“Assemble the team,” Lorenzo commanded, turning on his heel with deadly, calculated precision. “No negotiations. No prisoners. We burn their world to the ground.”
