Chapter 5 - The Snake in the Garden
Three weeks passed. The war with the Valenti family had escalated into a silent, lethal game of chess across the city. One by one, Victor Valenti’s strongholds were dismantled, his bank accounts frozen, his allies buying one-way tickets out of the country.
Yet, inside the Moretti estate, life had taken on a strange, peaceful rhythm.
Sienna had stepped into her new role as head of domestic operations with incredible poise. She managed the staff with a gentle firmness that earned her immediate respect. And Elsie had become a permanent fixture at Nero’s side. Wherever the dog went, the little girl was never far behind, her tiny hand often hooked into his leather collar.
I was sitting in my glass-walled conservatory, reviewing financial ledgers on my tablet, when Nero suddenly stood up from the rug beside my desk.
His ears pressed flat against his skull. The subtle, deep growl returned to his chest—the exact sound he had made the morning he was hurt.
I placed the tablet down instantly. "What is it, boy?"
Nero didn't look at the doors leading into the main house. He looked out through the reinforced glass panel toward the west garden—an area currently under construction for a new greenhouse.
Through the falling snow, I saw a lone figure in a heavy maintenance jumpsuit walking along the perimeter fence, carrying a long leather tool bag.
It was standard practice for workers to be escorted by at least two armed guards. But this worker was alone.
I stood up, pulling a suppressed pistol from beneath my desk drawer. "Nero. Stay."
This time, Nero didn't obey the stay command. He trotted silently ahead of me, staying low to the ground, moving like a shadow through the side corridors toward the courtyard door.
We stepped out into the freezing air. The wind howled through the stone pillars, masking the sound of our footsteps.
The worker was standing near the estate's main power junction box, unzipping his leather bag. Inside wasn't a set of wrenches or wire cutters. It was a military-grade plastic explosive, fitted with a remote detonator.
"Victor is getting desperate," I said, stepping out from behind a stone column.
The man whirled around, reaching for a weapon concealed in his jacket.
He never got the chance.
Nero launched himself through the air, hitting the assassin with the force of a freight train. The man slammed back against the stone wall, his gun clattering uselessly into the snow. Nero didn't bite to kill; he pinned the man’s wrists with his heavy paws, his jaws hovering a millimeter from the assassin’s throat, dripping hot saliva into the freezing air.
Marco and three guards rushed into the garden seconds later, weapons drawn, taking control of the scene.
"Check the explosive," I ordered Marco, my eyes fixed on the trembling assassin on the ground.
Marco inspected the device, his face darkening. "It’s a timer set for 6:00 PM, Boss. Right when the evening meal is served in the main dining hall."
Right when Sienna, Elsie, and my core staff would have been gathered together.
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I looked down at the assassin. "Who let you through the outer gate?"
The man spat blood into the snow, gritting his teeth. "You think you've cleaned house, Alessio? You haven't seen anything yet. The Valenti family has eyes inside your bloodline."
