Chapter 3 - Shadows in the Glass-3-
The chaos in the solarium erupted with terrifying speed. The men who entered weren't random intruders; they moved with military precision, their dark tactical gear completely silent against the marble floors. Alessandro didn't flinch. He gripped the armrests of his wheelchair, his knuckles turning white, a dangerous gleam flashing in his steel-gray eyes.
"You're late, Marco," Alessandro said, his voice cutting through the hum of the winter wind outside the glass.
The lead masked man stopped. He slowly pulled down his balaclava, revealing a face twisted into a cruel, familiar smirk. It was Marco Vance, Alessandro’s cousin and the COO of Moretti Enterprises.
"Traffic on the expressway was a nightmare, cousin," Marco replied, stepping closer to the wheelchair. "Besides, I wanted to give you time to look over the transfer documents. The ones that prove your signature was forged on the restructuring assets."
I held Emma tight against my chest, her face buried in my neck so she couldn't see the heavy pistols held casually by Marco's men. My mind raced. This was the betrayal. Not a random attack, but an internal coup executed by blood.
"You think a piece of paper can erase twenty years of loyalty?" Alessandro asked, his voice deathly calm.
"Loyalty? Alessandro, you’ve been living in the past since your spine snapped," Marco sneered, stepping closer and looking down at his seated cousin. "You haven't run a clean shipment in six months. You're soft. And the board agreed with me. Sign the papers, and we let you live out your days in a quiet Swiss clinic. Refuse, and well... accidents happen twice."
My heart hammered. If they killed Alessandro, what would happen to us? We were witnesses. We had seen too much.
Suddenly, Emma shifted in my arms. A tiny sneeze escaped her nose, echoing loudly in the tense silence of the solarium.
Every head in the room snapped toward our hiding spot behind the large monstera plant. Marco's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
"Well, well," Marco whispered, walking slowly toward us. "What do we have here? A stray rat in the garden."
"Leave them out of this, Marco," Alessandro growled, trying to wheel forward, but two guards immediately stepped behind him, pressing the cold steel barrels of their weapons against the leather back of his chair.
Marco crouched down in front of me, his gaze sweeping over my trembling frame before landing on Emma. "A mother and a child. How tragic it would be if they got caught in the crossfire of a tragic estate accident."
"She’s just a maid," I choked out, tears stinging my eyes. "Please. We didn't see anything. We’ll leave, we'll never come back to Chicago—"
"Quiet," Marco hissed, his hand reaching out to grab a lock of Emma's curly hair.
Emma whimpered, burying herself deeper into my jacket. But before Marco could pull her away, a soft metallic click echoed through the room.
Marco froze.
May you like
From the shadows behind the upper balcony, a red laser dot appeared, dancing steadily across Marco’s forehead. Then another. Then half a dozen more.
Alessandro let out a cold, humorless chuckle. "Did you really think I trusted you to come alone, Marco? In my house?"
