Chapter 6 - the wooden cradle
Dante sprang to his feet with lethal military speed, drawing a black sidearm from his hip holster. "Stay in this room, Alina. Lock the door behind me."
"Dante, be careful!" Alina called out, her heart racing with fear for her newly found uncle.
Dante rushed down the grand hallway, flanked by six elite guards. He reached the grand foyer just as Vincent pushed open the front doors, carrying a rectangular wooden box wrapped in heavy rusted chains.
"What is it, Vincent?" Dante demanded, his dark eyes narrowed.
"It was thrown from a black sedan that fled toward the highway, Boss," Vincent reported, setting the heavy box onto the marble table. "It bears the seal of the Falcone family."
Dante stepped forward, using a heavy tactical knife to slice through the rusted chains, popping the latch open.
Inside the wooden box lay an old, yellowed baby blanket, a pair of worn silver baby shoes, and an unsealed envelope marked with the name: DANTE ROSSELLI.
Dante picked up the envelope, unfolding the heavy parchment inside. He read the dark handwriting aloud to his men:
"Dante Rosselli. Twenty-eight years ago, I took your sister to settle your father's debt. She lived a quiet life under my watch until eight months ago, when she tried to send her daughter the silver key. If you want to see Elena alive again, bring the fifty percent shipping title deeds to the abandoned warehouse at Dock 14 tomorrow at midnight. Come alone. Or your sister dies."
A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the foyer.
Vincent looked at Dante in shock. "Boss... Elena is alive? Falcone has had her for eight months?!"
Dante's eyes burned with a terrifying, unholy fire. He slammed his broad fist onto the marble table, shattering the wooden box lid into splinters.
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"Falcone doesn't want the shipping titles," Dante growled, his deep voice shaking the room. "He wants to trap me in the open. And he used someone inside this house to find out that Alina arrived tonight."
Dante turned his deadly gaze toward the top of the grand staircase, where Sofia Rosselli stood in the shadows, her face completely drained of color.
