Chapter 2 - The Intruder
The phone slipped slightly in Adrian’s hand.
I watched the most powerful man in Connecticut freeze in sheer disbelief.
"Who made the request?" Adrian demanded into the receiver.
He listened for another agonizing second before smashing the phone down onto his desk.
The glass surface cracked under the force.
"Someone knows," he whispered to himself.
He turned to me, his eyes blazing with a mixture of rage and panic.
"Pack a bag right now," he ordered.
"What is happening?" I asked, backing away from him.
"If someone outside this family knows Nora is James’s daughter, she is a target," he warned.
My blood ran cold at the word target.
I didn't wait for another explanation.
I ran out of the office and sprinted up the sweeping white staircase.
I burst into the kitchen, grabbed Nora from the housekeeper, and rushed to our small servant quarters.
I shoved clothes, diapers, and James's pocket watch into a duffel bag.
I couldn't trust Adrian.
He was a mafia boss, and his world was exactly what I had hidden Nora from.
I grabbed Nora's hand and slipped out the back door leading to the garden.
The night air was freezing as we hurried toward the rear service gates.
I knew the security rotations perfectly after working here for three years.
We reached the heavy iron gate, and I fumbled with the manual override latch.
A shadow detached itself from the trees.
"Going somewhere, Clara?" a rough voice asked.
I gasped and pulled Nora behind my legs.
It was Marco, one of Adrian’s trusted perimeter guards.
"Marco, please, let us out," I begged.
Marco smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
He stepped into the moonlight, raising a silenced pistol toward my chest.
As he lifted his arm, his sleeve pulled back.
Engraved on his wrist was a black spider tattoo.
May you like
That wasn't the Cole family crest.
"The Moretti family sends their regards," the guard sneered, placing his finger on the trigger.
