Chapter 3 - The Bloodline
I shot the commander through the throat before he could utter another word.
His body hit the floor, and his remaining three men instantly lost their nerve.
They abandoned the mission and fled through the shattered front doors into the pouring rain.
I did not chase them.
I checked the pulses of my fallen guards, but they were already gone.
I walked back up the stairs, my boots leaving bloody footprints on the pristine marble.
I reached the panic room and punched in the master code.
The heavy door hissed open.
Allie was huddled in the corner, clutching Lily tightly against her chest.
I locked the door behind me and stared down at the trembling woman.
I demanded to know exactly who the little girl’s father was.
Allie squeezed her eyes shut and began to weep silently.
She confessed that she had been Lorenzo Falco’s personal courier five years ago.
She had fallen into his bed because refusing him meant certain death.
When she discovered she was pregnant, she knew Lorenzo would turn her child into a monster.
She had faked her own death and run to the one place in Chicago where Lorenzo would never look.
She had hidden herself inside the estate of his greatest enemy.
Lily was the sole heir to the Falco empire.
I stared at the little girl who had given me her blanket just thirty minutes ago.
I asked Allie why Lorenzo had suddenly found her after three years of perfect hiding.
Allie looked down at the floor, her voice barely a whisper.
She admitted that she had stolen something from Lorenzo to buy her freedom.
She said Lorenzo didn't just want the child back.
He wanted the encrypted ledger she had taken from his private vault.
I asked her where the ledger was.
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Allie looked up at me with sheer panic in her eyes.
She told me she had dropped it in the hallway when my guards started shooting.
