Chapter 12
By 4:00 AM, the estate was flooded with Alessandro’s personal strike team.
Vance had been secured in the soundproof lower holding cells, singing like a canary to Alessandro’s interrogators. Every bank routing number, every burner phone log, every signed contract was being compiled into an ironclad dossier.
Upstairs in the master suite, Emily was asleep under thick down comforters, an IV drip rehydrating her tired body under the supervision of the family’s private physician.
In the adjoining sitting room, Zoe sat curled up on an enormous velvet sofa, happily drinking warm milk from a mug. Her face was clean, her hair brushed, and she was wearing a warm flannel set that Alessandro’s staff had rushed from the private guest reserves.
Barnaby the bear sat upright on the coffee table beside her.
Alessandro walked into the room, having changed into a fresh charcoal-grey suit. He carried a small velvet-lined wooden box.
Zoe looked up, her eyes bright despite the late hour. "Uncle Alessandro?"
"Yes, little one?"
"Is Mama going to wake up tomorrow?"
"She is going to wake up in a few hours," Alessandro assured her, sitting beside her on the sofa. "Her fever is already gone. She just needs to sleep."
Zoe reached out and touched the velvet box on his lap. "What's that?"
"Something your father left behind," Alessandro said quietly.
He opened the box. Inside was a heavy gold pocket watch, inscribed with the initials *J.R.* Beside it was a small silver pendant shaped like an angel’s wing.
Zoe’s eyes lit up. "Daddy's watch! Mama has a picture of him holding it!"
Alessandro felt a lump form in his throat. For three years, he had believed Julian had abandoned him, or worse, that Julian had been killed by a rival cartel because of Alessandro’s own mistakes. The guilt had eaten him alive every night.
Knowing Julian had simply tried to save this innocent child changed everything.
Victor knocked softly on the open double doors. He was dressed in a full tactical kit, an assault rifle slung across his chest.
"Boss. The cars are lined up outside. Matteo’s building is surrounded. He hasn't left the penthouse."
Alessandro closed the wooden box and handed the silver angel pendant to Zoe. "Hold this for your mother."
Zoe gripped the silver wing tightly in her small palm. "Are you going to see the bad man with the red X?"
May you like
Alessandro stood up, buttoning his jacket. "No, Zoe. Victor is the man with the gun. The bad man is waiting for me in the city."
He looked at Victor. "Let's finish this."
