Chapter 11: The Traitor Under His Roof
Vivian's words echoed through the smoke-filled hallway.
"...He's already inside your house."
Lorenzo knelt beside her, pressing the barrel of his pistol against her shoulder.
"Who?"
Vivian laughed, blood staining her lips.
"If I tell you..."
"...he'll kill me before sunrise."
"You've already lost."
Her smile widened.
"No, Lorenzo."
"You have."
Before he could question her again, her body convulsed.
Dr. Halloran rushed forward.
"Move!"
He checked for a pulse.
Nothing.
A tiny capsule had dissolved beneath Vivian's tongue.
Another cyanide pill.
Just like Ethan Cross.
Marco cursed under his breath.
"They planned for silence."
The estate was finally secure by dawn.
Twenty-three attackers had been captured.
Eight were dead.
Not one admitted who had hired them.
Lorenzo stood alone in his study, staring at Sophia's photograph.
Everything he believed about the bombing had been wrong.
Someone had wanted Leo dead before he was born.
Someone with unlimited money.
Unlimited patience.
And access to his own home.
A soft knock interrupted his thoughts.
Hunter entered quietly, Leo sleeping against her shoulder.
"You should rest," Lorenzo said.
"So should you."
For the first time in weeks, Lorenzo almost smiled.
Almost.
Leo stretched in his sleep and instinctively reached toward Lorenzo.
The tiny fingers wrapped around his father's index finger.
Lorenzo's chest tightened.
"I've hardly held him."
Hunter looked at him gently.
"You're afraid."
He didn't deny it.
"I'm afraid he'll disappear."
Hunter stepped closer.
"So was I."
She looked down at Leo.
"When I lost Lily..."
"I stopped believing I could protect anyone."
She carefully placed Leo into Lorenzo's arms.
The baby stirred.
For one long second, Lorenzo expected him to cry.
Instead...
Leo yawned.
Curled against his father's chest.
And fell asleep.
Tears filled Lorenzo's eyes before he could stop them.
Across the mansion, Marco and the forensic team searched every office.
Inside the accounting department, one computer caught their attention.
Someone had deleted thousands of financial records.
The technician recovered one hidden transaction.
Five million dollars.
Transferred in six separate payments.
The recipient wasn't Vivian.
It wasn't Ethan Cross.
The money had been sent to an offshore account controlled by—
Adrian Rossi.
Marco froze.
Adrian wasn't an employee.
He wasn't security.
He wasn't a servant.
He was Lorenzo's older cousin.
The man who had helped raise him after his father's death.
The man who had carried Sophia's coffin at her funeral.
The man Leo's future guardianship papers named as legal protector if Lorenzo ever died.
Marco stared at the screen.
"No..."
He grabbed the file and ran.
Lorenzo was still holding Leo when Marco burst into the nursery.
"Boss..."
His voice shook.
"I found the traitor."
Lorenzo looked up.
"Who?"
Marco laid the financial records on the table.
The room became deathly silent.
Lorenzo stared at the name.
Again.
And again.
His hands slowly closed around the papers.
Not in grief.
In rage.
Hunter watched the color leave his face.
"Lorenzo..."
He spoke only four words.
"They killed her together."
Before Hunter could ask what he meant, another envelope slipped from the folder onto the floor.
It had never been opened.
May you like
Sophia's handwriting covered the front.
For Lorenzo... if I don't come home.
