Chapter 3 - The Judas Coin
Roman ended the call, his grip on the phone tight enough to crack the screen.
Marcus was making his move, and Vivian was clearly helping him orchestrate a massive coup.
Roman looked down at Claire, realizing she was the only loose end they had failed to tie up.
"You are not safe in this house," Roman told her softly.
He called in his most loyal bodyguard, a silent giant named Dante, and ordered him to guard the study door.
"Nobody gets in here without my explicit permission, understood?" Roman commanded.
Dante nodded firmly, racking the slide of his tactical shotgun.
Roman left the study and walked back into the main dining room, where the Christmas feast was still ongoing.
He needed to play along and pretend everything was fine until he could isolate Marcus.
Vivian walked up to him, linking her arm through his with a sickeningly sweet smile.
"Is the spy finally dealt with?" she whispered in his ear.
"She is being handled," Roman lied, forcing himself not to strangle her in front of forty guests.
Meanwhile, back in the study, Claire was struggling to sit up against the pillows.
She heard a faint scratching noise coming from the air vent near the ceiling.
She strained her ears and realized it was the sound of voices echoing from the room next door.
It was Vivian and Marcus, arguing in hushed, furious tones.
"You were supposed to make sure she froze to death out there!" Marcus hissed.
"Roman found her too quickly, but it doesn't matter now," Vivian replied coldly.
Claire held her breath, pressing her ear closer to the cold metal of the vent.
"The assassin is already positioned on the roof," Marcus said.
"As soon as Roman steps out onto the terrace for his cigar, we take the empire."
Claire's heart hammered wildly as she realized they were going to murder Roman tonight.
She threw the blankets off her freezing body and stumbled toward the study door to warn Dante.
She turned the brass handle, but it refused to budge.
She pounded on the heavy oak wood, screaming Dante's name.
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The door was completely locked from the outside.
Suddenly, the lights in the study flickered and went pitch black.
