Chapter 10 - the traitor unmasked
Marco reacted instantly. He drew his semi-automatic pistol from beneath his armpit in a single, fluid motion and kicked the bedroom deadbolt into place.
“Get down behind the bed!” Marco barked, pressing his back against the wall beside the heavy door. “Cover the child!”
Elena didn't hesitate. She scooped Sofia into her arms, dropped to the carpet behind the solid mahogany headboard, and shielded the baby with her entire body. Sofia woke up, letting out a sharp, terrified wail as the sound of splintering wood and shouted orders echoed through the penthouse corridor.
The penthouse was under attack.
Through the heavy oak door, Elena heard Lorenzo’s voice—a terrifying, thunderous roar that cut through the chaos like an artillery strike.
“Secure the east corridor!” Lorenzo roared. “They came up through the private service freight!”
A loud crash shook the bedroom door. Someone was trying the handle from the outside.
Marco raised his weapon, aiming straight through the wood at chest height. “Identify!” he yelled.
“Marco! Open the door!” Lorenzo’s voice barked back.
Marco lowered his weapon and twisted the deadbolt, pulling the door open just wide enough.
Lorenzo stood in the hallway, his tailored jacket discarded, his crisp white dress shirt stained with dark grease and dust. In his right hand, he held a heavy tactical pistol. Behind him, two men in black tactical gear lay motionless on the marble floor, disarmed and restrained.
Lorenzo’s eyes swept the bedroom, locking onto Elena and Sofia huddled behind the bed. The tension in his massive shoulders visibly dropped when he saw his daughter was unharmed.
“Is she safe?” Lorenzo demanded.
“She’s fine,” Marco answered. “Who hit the floor?”
Lorenzo stepped into the room, kicking one of the dropped weapons down the hall. His face was cold, merciless, and completely in control.
“Apex Logistics,” Lorenzo said, his voice dropping into a lethal growl. “Anthony sent a clean-up crew to eliminate the maid and reclaim the child before the sun came up.”
Lorenzo looked directly at Marco, his gaze boring into his lieutenant’s skull. “And you knew Anthony was in town, didn't you, Marco?”
Marco didn't blink. He lowered his gun to his side, standing at absolute attention. “I knew he was moving assets through the St. Jude, boss. Viktor called me at midnight. I went to the hotel to verify before I brought it to you. I didn't want to start a family civil war on a hunch.”
“Viktor is dead because you waited for proof,” Lorenzo said, each word hitting like a hammer.
“And Sofia is alive because this girl ran to me instead of the police!” Marco fired back, pointing toward Elena. “If Anthony knew Sofia survived the alley, this hit squad was meant to finish the job!”
Lorenzo walked over to the bed. He reached down and gently touched Sofia’s cheek. The baby stopped crying, looking up at her father with wide, dark eyes.
“Anthony didn't want Sofia dead,” Lorenzo said softly, revealing the shocking truth that stunned both Marco and Elena.
Marco frowned. “What? Then why dump her in an alley?”
“Anthony didn't dump her,” Lorenzo said, turning around to face them both. “One of the attackers outside just started talking before his jaw broke. Anthony ordered Sofia taken so he could use her as leverage to force me to sign the waterfront ports over to Apex Logistics. But the man Anthony hired to carry Sofia out of the hotel… wasn't working for Anthony.”
Elena stood up, holding Sofia against her hip. “Then who was he working for?”
Lorenzo pulled a bloodless, laminated ID card from his pocket and threw it onto the mattress.
The ID card belonged to a senior investigator with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Organized Crime Division.
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The man who had carried Sofia into that freezing alley wasn't a mobster.
He was a federal agent.
