Chapter 4 - The Voice in the Dark
Total darkness consumed the bedroom, leaving me completely blind and paralyzed with pure fear.
I backed away from the open doorway, clutching David's terrifying note tightly against my chest.
The emergency backup generators suddenly hummed to life, casting a dim red glow down the empty hallway.
I rushed to my wooden nightstand and frantically searched for the panic button Dante had given me.
Before my shaking fingers could press the red plastic, a heavy, leather-clad hand clamped firmly over my mouth.
I screamed wildly against the leather glove, thrashing desperately to free myself from the attacker.
"Do not make a single sound, Clara," a deep, furious voice whispered directly into my ear.
It was Dante.
He spun me around, his dark eyes blazing with a lethal, calculating intensity that made my knees weak.
He held a silenced pistol in his right hand, his muscles coiled tight like a striking viper.
"My perimeter has been breached, and we definitely have a traitor inside the house," he stated quietly.
I shoved David's crumpled, terrifying note directly into his broad chest.
Dante scanned the handwritten words, his jaw clenching so hard I thought his teeth might actually shatter.
"Your ex-boyfriend currently works for the Moretti syndicate," Dante growled, connecting the dots instantly.
"David owes gambling debts to dangerous people, and he is trying to use me to pay them off," I explained frantically.
The burner phone sitting on my dresser suddenly vibrated, lighting up the dark room with an incoming call.
Dante picked it up and pressed the speaker button, holding his gun steady and aimed at the doorway.
"Clara, are you there?" David's pathetic, pleading voice echoed loudly through the quiet room.
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"I have Leo," David lied smoothly, completely unaware that the deadliest man in the city was listening.
"I sneaked into his room during the blackout, and if you want him to live, you will come down to the wine cellar alone."
