Chapter 3 - The Secret Maid in Room 14

Matteo took the service elevator down to Sublevel 1, his long strides carrying him past rows of industrial laundry facilities and dry-storage pantries.
Room 14 was a cramped, windowless concrete alcove containing only a twin cot, a small wooden wardrobe, and a child’s drawing of a sunlit garden taped to the painted brick.
Lying on the cold floor beside the bed, dressed in a faded grey domestic uniform, was Clara.
Her face was as pale as marble, dark purple circles bruising her delicate eyelids. Her lips were dry and cracked, and her breathing was a faint, rattling wheeze.
“Clara!”
Matteo dropped to his knees on the concrete, setting Lily gently on the cot, and lifted Clara’s upper body into his arms. The familiar scent of wild lavender and rain that had haunted his dreams for four years hit his senses, mingled with the cold, metallic odor of illness.
“Clara, look at me,” Matteo pleaded, pressing his trembling hand against her burning cheek. “I’m here. Matteo is here.”
Clara’s eyelids fluttered weakly. Her glassy, unfocused eyes struggled to lock onto his face.
“Matteo...?” she croaked in a dry, broken rasp. “Lily... where is my baby...?”
“Lily is right here, my love,” Matteo whispered, tears glistening in his fierce eyes as he pulled her tightly against his chest. “She saved your life. You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
Dr. Antonio Rossi, the Syndicate’s chief trauma surgeon, rushed into the cramped room carrying emergency medical bags, flanked by two armed paramedics.
“Pulse is thready, ninety over fifty!” Dr. Rossi called out, placing an oxygen mask over Clara’s face and attaching biometric sensors to her wrist. “Pupils are sluggish! We have acute systemic toxicity and metabolic collapse! We must transfer her to the private medical wing immediately!”
Matteo lifted Clara into his arms as if she weighed nothing, carrying her out of the dreary basement into the grand elevator, with Lily clutching his tailored trousers with both hands.
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As they reached the master penthouse suite, Matteo laid Clara upon the massive king-sized bed lined with Egyptian silk, turning toward his chief enforcer with eyes of black fire.
“Analyze every crumb of food, every drop of water, and every cleaning chemical in that basement,” Matteo commanded. “Someone brought poison into my house.”