Chapter 1 - THE RED CRAYON
Marco spread his hands.
“I checked the vehicle last night. That’s part of my job.”
Lily shook her head hard enough that one of her blond curls fell across her face.
“No.”
Marco’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
Dante noticed.
“What were you doing?” he asked.
Marco smiled again.
“Making sure the cars were secure.”
Lily whispered, “You put the black lunchbox under it.”
Silence.
Claire felt Dante’s entire body change.
Not visibly.
His shoulders did not tense.
His expression did not harden.
But the air around him seemed to become colder.
Dante looked at the strange square Lily had drawn beneath the car.
“What black lunchbox?”
Lily pointed.
“That one.”
Dante stood.
“Enzo.”
A younger man near the fountain moved immediately.
“Yes, boss?”
“Clear the driveway.”
Every Moretti guard understood at once.
Weapons came out.
Claire’s heart stopped.
Dante looked down at her.
“Take Lily inside.”
Claire scooped her daughter into her arms.
“What’s happening?”
“Inside, Claire.”
The way he said her name made her obey.
She had barely reached the mansion steps when Dante shouted:
“STOP.”
Nobody moved.
Dante’s eyes were fixed beneath his sedan.
From this angle, Claire could see something dark tucked behind the rear wheel assembly.
A small rectangular object.
Black.
Almost invisible in the shadow.
Her stomach dropped.
Lily wrapped her arms around Claire’s neck.
“That’s the lunchbox.”
Dante did not look away.
“Enzo. Bomb team.”
Marco immediately stepped forward.
“Dante, this is ridiculous. It could be a tracker, maintenance equipment, anything.”
Dante finally turned his head.
“Then why are you sweating?”
Marco stopped.
Claire saw it now.
A sheen along his forehead despite the cool afternoon.
Dante’s men spread apart.
Marco looked around.
His calm smile disappeared.
“Don’t do this.”
Dante’s voice remained quiet.
“Do what?”
“Humiliate me because a three-year-old drew a picture.”
Lily buried her face in Claire’s shoulder.
Claire felt anger cut through her fear.
“She saw you.”
Marco looked at Claire for the first time.
Really looked.
The politeness was gone.
“So now the maid gives orders?”
Dante took one step toward him.
“No.”
Marco’s eyes returned to Dante.
“She doesn’t.”
Another step.
“But I do.”
Marco’s hand moved toward his jacket.
Twenty guns rose.
“Don’t,” Enzo warned.
Marco froze.
The bomb specialist arrived four minutes later.
Those four minutes felt like four hours.
The driveway was evacuated.
Dante refused to leave until Claire and Lily were safely behind the reinforced windows of the mansion’s western hall.
Claire stood with Lily pressed against her chest.
From inside, she watched two technicians crawl toward the sedan.
One used a mirror.
The other examined the black object.
Then both backed away immediately.
Dante received a radio call.
His face went still.
“What is it?” Claire asked.
He did not answer.
“Mr. Moretti?”
His eyes moved toward Marco, who was now surrounded by guards.
Dante spoke softly.
“Remote-triggered explosive.”
Claire’s knees weakened.
If Lily had not drawn on the car…
If nobody had noticed…
Dante would likely have driven away within the hour.
She looked at her daughter.
Lily had unknowingly saved his life.
Marco laughed.
It was short.
Bitter.
“You really think I’d leave something that obvious?”
Dante walked toward him.
“You tell me.”
“I’ve been beside you for seventeen years.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I took bullets for your father.”
“That isn’t an answer either.”
Marco’s expression changed.
“You’re choosing a servant’s child over me?”
Dante stopped directly in front of him.
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“I’m choosing evidence.”
Marco stared at him.
Dante continued.
“And the evidence says a three-year-old is more loyal to me than you are.”
Marco’s jaw tightened.
For a second, Claire thought he might attack.
Instead he smiled.
“You don’t know what you’ve started.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“Then explain it.”
Marco leaned closer.
“You think that device was meant to kill you?”
Dante said nothing.
Marco smiled wider.
“It wasn’t.”
Claire felt ice travel through her veins.
Dante glanced toward the car.
“Then who?”
Marco looked past him.
Straight at Claire.
Then at Lily.
Claire instinctively stepped backward.
Dante turned.
Marco’s voice carried across the hall.
“That car was supposed to leave the estate at one o’clock.”
Dante’s expression changed.
Because he knew the schedule.
Claire didn’t.
Marco continued.
“Rosa was supposed to take Claire and the child into town.”
Claire stopped breathing.
Dante looked at Enzo.
“Whose vehicle were they assigned?”
Enzo went pale.
“The sedan.”
Claire’s mouth opened.
No sound came.
Marco gave a small shrug.
“Looks like the kid saved herself.”
Dante grabbed Marco by the front of his jacket and slammed him against the stone pillar.
“Who ordered it?”
Marco laughed despite the pressure against his throat.
“You still don’t understand.”
“WHO?”
Marco’s smile disappeared.
“They’re already inside your house.”
Dante released him.
Every guard in the hallway turned.
Claire’s heart hammered.
Dante spoke one word.
“Lockdown.”
Steel shutters began descending over the mansion windows.
Doors automatically locked.
Security alarms sounded.
Lily began crying.
Claire held her tighter.
“What does he mean?” she asked.
Dante stared toward the upper floors of his own home.
For the first time since Claire had known him, Dante Moretti looked uncertain.
Not frightened.
Worse.
Betrayed.
Then the mansion lights went out.
A second later, Lily whispered into Claire’s ear:
“Mommy?”
“Yes, baby?”
“The other bad man is here too.”
Claire froze.
“What other bad man?”
In the darkness, Lily pointed toward the staircase.
A man stood at the top.
Watching them.
Someone Claire recognized immediately.
Dante did too.
His face went white.
Because the man standing above them was Gabriel Moretti.
Dante’s younger brother.
The only person in the world Dante trusted more than Marco.
May you like
And in Gabriel’s hand was the second red crayon Lily had lost the night before.
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