Chapter 2 - The Actuary
The grandfather clock ticked loudly in the suffocating silence.
Leo lowered the phone slowly, his jaw clenching so tight the muscle twitched.
Tessa stared at him, her anger completely replaced by a chilling sense of dread.
“What did he say?”
Leo did not answer her.
He dropped her phone onto the marble floor and crushed it beneath his leather shoe.
“Luca!”
Leo’s roar echoed through the massive house, shattering the quiet evening.
Heavy footsteps pounded down the second-floor hallway as his head of security appeared.
“Lock down the estate immediately.”
Luca did not ask questions; he simply pulled a radio from his belt and barked the orders.
Tessa hugged her arms across her chest, the burgundy silk suddenly feeling dangerously thin.
“Leo, what is going on?”
“Your boring actuary is not an actuary.”
Leo grabbed her arm again, pulling her away from the front doors.
“He is a ghost from a rival syndicate, and he just used you to verify my exact location.”
Tessa’s mind raced, trying to reconcile the man with the golden retriever with the threat Leo was describing.
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Before she could process the betrayal, a deafening explosion shook the very foundation of the estate.
The heavy oak front doors blew violently off their hinges, raining splintered wood and fire into the foyer.
