Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT THE MANSION TURNED AGAINST US
Emergency lights flickered on.
Red.
Dim.
Unnatural.
The carbon monoxide alarm continued repeating.
EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.
EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.
People poured into the hallways.
Maids.
Cooks.
Security.
Drivers.
Everyone moving toward exits.
Exactly as designed.
Lorenzo held Leo against his chest.
"East stairwell."
Nico shook his head.
"Automatic locks sealed it."
"Why?"
"Fire protocol."
"West?"
"Same."
I looked toward the service corridor.
"The laundry stairs."
Both men turned.
"What?"
"The old stairs behind the linen room."
Nico frowned.
"Those don't connect to the ground level."
"They connect to the basement kitchen."
"How do you know?"
"Because unlike Mafia bosses, maids carry sheets."
Lorenzo almost smiled.
"Lead."
We moved.
Teresa came with us.
The corridor outside the guest suite was chaotic.
A guard shouted for everyone to evacuate.
Lorenzo grabbed him.
"Who's commanding transport?"
"Captain Russo."
Nico cursed.
One of the men who helped Renato escape.
"Don't let anyone into a vehicle," Lorenzo ordered.
The guard looked confused.
"But the alarm—"
"It's false."
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm telling you."
That was enough.
We reached the linen room.
I pushed aside a rolling cart and opened a narrow utility door.
Concrete stairs descended.
"You first," Lorenzo said.
"No."
"Maya."
"You have Leo."
Exactly.
If someone waited below, Lorenzo couldn't fight while holding the baby.
I grabbed a heavy metal flashlight from the shelf.
He stared at it.
"What?"
"I'm a maid."
I raised it.
"We improvise."
Nico moved first instead.
"Both of you stop arguing."
We descended.
Halfway down, the alarm stopped.
Silence replaced it.
That was worse.
Nico looked at his phone.
"No signal."
Basement.
We reached the kitchen.
Empty.
Everyone had evacuated.
Lorenzo looked toward the loading entrance.
"No."
I followed his gaze.
The loading door stood open.
Cold night air moved through it.
A black SUV waited outside.
Engine running.
Nico drew his weapon.
"Stay here."
He moved forward.
A shot cracked.
The sound exploded through the kitchen.
Nico fell behind a steel prep counter.
I gasped.
Lorenzo pushed me and Leo behind a wall.
"Nico!"
"I'm fine!"
His voice came from the floor.
"Vest."
Another shot hit metal.
Lorenzo handed Leo to me.
"Take him."
"No."
"Maya."
"No."
His eyes burned.
"Please."
That stopped me.
Lorenzo Rossi did not say please.
I took Leo.
He moved toward the doorway.
Nico fired twice.
Someone outside shouted.
Then tires screamed.
The SUV accelerated away.
Lorenzo reached the loading entrance and fired once toward the tires.
Too late.
The vehicle disappeared.
"They weren't waiting for us," Nico said.
He stood slowly, pressing a hand to his vest.
Lorenzo frowned.
"Then why shoot?"
"To push us away from the door."
My stomach dropped.
"Distraction."
Lorenzo turned.
We all understood at the same moment.
If the loading dock wasn't the extraction point—
where was it?
Teresa.
I looked behind us.
She was gone.
"Where's Teresa?"
Lorenzo's face changed.
We ran back.
The linen stairs.
Up.
First floor.
Second.
My lungs burned.
Leo began crying.
We reached the guest suite.
Empty.
Then Lorenzo's phone regained signal.
A text appeared.
Unknown number.
BRING MAYA TO THE GREENHOUSE.
COME ALONE.
Lorenzo stared.
A second message arrived.
OR TERESA DIES.
Attached photo.
Teresa tied to a chair.
Behind her—
the glass roof of the estate greenhouse.
I looked at Lorenzo.
"He wants me."
"No."
"The message says—"
"No."
"Lorenzo."
"He brought you here once. I'm not delivering you again."
"Then Teresa dies."
"He's bluffing."
"Are you willing to bet her life?"
His jaw tightened.
Nico entered.
"Security teams are sweeping the grounds."
Lorenzo handed him the phone.
Nico read it.
"I can surround the greenhouse."
"No."
"If Renato sees movement—"
"Exactly."
I looked at Leo.
Then at Lorenzo.
"Give him to Camille."
"No."
"Leo needs to be away from us."
Lorenzo knew I was right.
He hated it.
Dr. Hart was secured in the clinic wing with two trusted guards.
We took Leo there.
Before Lorenzo handed him over, he kissed the baby's forehead.
Slowly.
Then he whispered something in Italian.
I couldn't understand.
Dr. Hart did.
Her eyes softened.
"What did you say?"
Lorenzo looked at me.
"Nothing."
Camille answered anyway.
"He told Leo his father is coming back."
I swallowed.
Lorenzo glared at her.
"Confidentiality."
"I'm not your doctor."
Despite everything, I smiled.
Then we went to the greenhouse.
At night, the building looked like a giant glass cathedral.
Plants pressed against the windows.
Warm yellow lights glowed inside.
Lorenzo stopped twenty feet from the entrance.
"Stay behind me."
"That worked great in the nursery."
"Maya."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
We entered.
The air smelled of wet soil and jasmine.
Teresa sat near the central fountain.
Hands tied.
Mouth taped.
Renato stood behind her.
No gun visible.
That worried me more.
"You're late," he said.
Lorenzo stopped.
"Let her go."
Renato looked at me.
"You came."
"Obviously."
"I knew you would."
"Why?"
"Because people like you confuse empathy with obligation."
I stared at him.
"And people like you confuse cruelty with intelligence."
His smile disappeared.
Lorenzo almost laughed.
Renato stepped around Teresa.
"Leo?"
"Safe."
"For now."
Lorenzo's face hardened.
"You'll never see him again."
"Do you think I want the child?"
"Then what do you want?"
"You."
Renato looked at Lorenzo.
"The real you."
"He's gone."
"No."
Renato shook his head.
"He's standing six feet from me pretending this woman changed him."
I stepped forward.
"This woman has a name."
Renato ignored me.
"You built everything your father dreamed of."
Lorenzo laughed once.
"No. You did."
Renato's eyes narrowed.
"And now you want to hand it to prosecutors?"
That caught my attention.
Lorenzo didn't react.
Renato continued.
"You think I don't know?"
Know what?
Lorenzo remained silent.
"You copied Aster records."
Renato smiled.
"You contacted attorneys."
My heart pounded.
Lorenzo had done that without telling me.
"You plan to surrender the companies."
"Yes."
The simple answer shocked Renato.
"Do you understand what that means?"
"Yes."
"You lose half your wealth."
"Probably."
"Properties."
"Maybe."
"Men who trusted you go to prison."
"The ones who hurt children can."
Renato's face twisted.
"Your father would be ashamed."
Lorenzo stepped closer.
"My father is dead."
"So is Elena."
The words hit.
"So is Maya's child."
I froze.
Renato looked at me.
"And still both of you insist the dead should control the living."
My hands shook.
Lorenzo said quietly, "Don't talk about Lily."
Renato smiled.
"Why? You barely knew she existed a week ago."
I stepped forward.
"You used my daughter."
"Your boyfriend used you."
"You paid him."
"He accepted."
"You built the trap."
"And you walked into it."
My chest tightened.
For weeks, part of me had thought the same.
I should have known.
I should have left sooner.
I should have seen Travis clearly.
I should have protected Lily better.
Then something changed.
"No."
Renato frowned.
I looked him directly in the eyes.
"I didn't walk into your trap."
"You did."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You built a trap around a grieving woman because you thought grief made me weak."
Silence.
"You were wrong."
Renato's expression sharpened.
I continued.
"You thought Lorenzo loving his son made him weak."
I glanced at Lorenzo.
"You were wrong about that too."
Renato reached inside his jacket.
Lorenzo moved.
Fast.
A gun appeared.
Not in Lorenzo's hand.
Renato's.
He aimed at me.
Lorenzo froze.
"Enough," Renato said.
Teresa cried behind the tape.
Renato looked at Lorenzo.
"Put yours down."
Lorenzo slowly removed his gun.
Placed it on the floor.
"Kicking distance."
He kicked it away.
Renato smiled.
"There."
He looked almost relieved.
"The boy I raised still knows how this works."
Then Teresa moved.
Hard.
She slammed both feet backward into Renato's knee.
He staggered.
The gun shifted.
Lorenzo lunged.
The weapon fired.
Glass shattered overhead.
I dropped.
Lorenzo hit Renato.
The gun skidded across the floor.
Teresa kicked it beneath a planter.
Renato and Lorenzo crashed into the stone edge of the fountain.
Renato was older.
Lorenzo was stronger.
But Renato had taught him everything.
For several brutal seconds, neither had advantage.
Then Renato reached for a garden knife on a worktable.
I grabbed the metal watering can beside me and swung.
It hit his wrist.
The knife fell.
Renato stared at me in disbelief.
"Maids improvise," I said.
Lorenzo drove him to the floor.
Nico and four guards burst through the greenhouse doors.
Weapons raised.
Renato stopped fighting.
He looked up at Lorenzo.
"Finish it."
Lorenzo breathed hard.
"Go ahead."
Renato smiled.
"Show her who you are."
Lorenzo looked at me.
Then at Teresa.
Then toward the mansion where his son waited.
He stood.
"No."
Renato's smile vanished.
Lorenzo looked at Nico.
"Call the attorneys."
"Which ones?"
"All of them."
Then his eyes returned to Renato.
"And call the federal prosecutor."
For the first time that night—
May you like
Renato looked afraid.
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