Chapter 10 - The False Victory
Adrian slowly pulled away from the kiss, his forehead resting gently against Elena's.
"I need to check that," he whispered apologetically.
"It's probably Carlo confirming the perimeter is locked down."
Elena nodded, a soft smile playing on her lips as she watched him stand up.
For the first time since Daniel died, she felt a genuine, profound sense of peace.
She had found a man who would burn the world down to protect her and her daughter.
Adrian walked over to the nightstand and picked up the small black burner phone.
He tapped the screen to read the incoming text message.
Elena watched his broad shoulders instantly tense.
The soft, romantic atmosphere in the room shattered into a million sharp pieces.
Adrian's face drained of all color, and his hand began to tremble slightly.
"Adrian?" Elena asked, her heart suddenly slamming against her ribs.
"What is it? Is Carlo okay?"
Adrian didn't answer her.
He just stared at the glowing screen as if he were looking at a ghost.
Elena stood up, her bare feet silent on the plush carpet, and walked up behind him.
She peered over his shoulder to read the glowing text message.
The message wasn't from Carlo.
It was from an unknown number, and it contained a single, terrifying sentence.
"Adrian, thanks for keeping my wife and daughter warm, but I'll be taking my family and your empire back now."
The text was signed simply: "Daniel."
Elena stumbled backward, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle a scream.
Her dead husband hadn't been killed by the Russians.
Daniel had faked his own death, orchestrated the entire war between the syndicates, and used his own daughter as bait to destroy the Moretti estate.
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Before Adrian could even turn around to comfort her, the heavy steel reinforced door of the safehouse bedroom locked shut from the outside with a loud, mechanical click.
And the lights in the hyper-secure penthouse completely cut out, plunging them into absolute, terrifying darkness.
