Chapter 3 - The Frame Job
The entire kitchen went completely silent.
Elena stared at the black rubber stopper in the guard's hand, feeling her heart stop beating.
"That isn't mine," Elena whispered frantically.
Dante stepped dangerously close to her.
"It was inside your personal cleaning bag."
"Someone put it there!" she cried out, stepping back until she hit the cold counter.
"I have been folding towels in the linen closet all morning."
Dante did not look convinced at all.
"You are the only person besides me who has clearance to enter his private study."
"But I didn't go in there today," she argued, tears finally spilling over her eyelashes.
Two guards stepped forward to grab her arms.
Before they could even touch her, Titan erupted into a terrifying roar.
He lunged forward, snapping his massive jaws inches from the lead guard's face.
The guard fell backward over a stool, scrambling away in pure terror.
"Titan, no!" Sophia yelled, throwing her arms around the dog's thick neck.
The dog stopped instantly, but his eyes never left the guards.
Dante raised a hand, signaling his men to stand down before someone got ripped apart.
"You have a very strange guardian angel today, Elena."
He looked at the little girl holding back the deadliest weapon in the house.
"Lock them in the guest wing," Dante ordered.
"Give her twenty-four hours to remember who paid her to do this, or I hand her over to Lorenzo."
A collective gasp rippled through the kitchen staff.
Lorenzo was Adrian's younger brother, and everyone knew he was far more sadistic than the boss.
They were marched up to the third floor, locked inside a lavish bedroom with heavily barred windows.
Elena collapsed onto the edge of the velvet bed, burying her face in her trembling hands.
Sophia climbed up beside her, gently patting her mother's back while Titan curled up on the rug.
Hours passed in agonizing silence as the sun finally set outside.
The mansion felt like a tomb.
Elena knew she was going to die here, leaving her daughter completely alone.
Suddenly, a soft scratching sound came from the heavy oak door.
Elena held her breath and crept toward the entrance.
A small piece of white paper was slowly pushed underneath the gap at the bottom of the door.
She snatched it up before the person on the other side could walk away.
She unfolded the paper with shaking fingers.
May you like
The message was written in hurried, messy ink.
"Keep your mouth shut about what you saw, or the little girl is next."
