Chapter 6 - The Viper in the Garden
The calm lasted less than forty-eight hours.
It was Thursday morning when Dante burst into Luca’s private study without knocking, holding a decrypted encrypted tablet.
"Boss, we have a leak inside the inner circle," Dante said, his breath coming in short bursts. "Someone downloaded the security grid schematics of the East Wing—the exact sector where Leo's nursery is located."
Luca looked up from his desk, his pen snapping in half between his fingers. "Who?"
"It wasn't one of the regular capos," Dante said grimly, sliding the tablet across the mahogany desk. "It was Marco. Your uncle's old loyalist. He’s been communicating with a faction from the old Vanguard syndicate—the remnants of the men Marcus Vance left behind."
The name hit the room like a physical blow.
Marcus Vance—the corporate criminal whose cartel had been dismantled months ago—had left behind lieutenants who were hungry for revenge against the man who destroyed their distribution pipelines. And they had found the softest possible target to strike at Luca Moretti’s heart: his family.
"Where is Leo?" Luca demanded, standing up so fast his chair crashed backward onto the rug.
"He's in the garden with the nanny," Dante replied, reaching for his sidearm.
Before Luca could reach the door, a muffled, concussive boom shook the foundations of the estate.
May you like
The lights flickered once, twice, and then died entirely, plunging the grand hallway into the eerie, pulsing red glow of the emergency backup generators.
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