Chapter 2 - the maid with a secret
Dr. Reynolds unbuttoned Adrian’s collar, quickly applying an emergency antidote injection directly into the Don's shoulder. "His heart rate is stabilizing," the physician breathed out, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. "It wasn't a stroke... it was a concentrated paralyzing neurotoxin."
Gasps rippled softly through the armed guards standing in the doorway.
Dante Russo’s sharp eyes instantly narrowed into twin points of suspicion. He turned his broad frame toward Elena, who was kneeling beside her daughter, wrapping her arms tightly around Sophia.
"A neurotoxin?" Dante growled, stepping into the center of the room. "The Don’s meals are prepared under strict security. The only person who entered this private suite in the last three hours was the house maid."
Elena looked up, her fair face flushing pale with absolute terror as she clutched Sophia against her maid apron. "I only brought Mr. Moretti his afternoon espresso! I didn't touch anything else! I swear on my daughter's life!"
Titan let out a low, protective rumble from his chest, stepping between Dante and the young mother, his dark eyes fixed onto the head guard.
Dante took an uneasy half-step back from the beast, pointing a finger at Elena. "Search her quarters. Search the servant wing immediately."
Two guards rushed out down the long marble corridor to carry out the order.
Meanwhile, on the leather armchair, Adrian Moretti let out a deep, gravelly groan. His long dark eyelashes fluttered open, his intense gaze slowly clearing under the chandelier light. He sat up slowly, adjusting his black hat with a steady, broad hand, his bearded jaw setting in a hard line as his commanding presence instantly reclaimed the room.
"What happened?" Adrian’s deep, raspy voice rumbled through the quiet suite.
"Mr. Moretti!" Dante stepped forward respectfully, bowing his head. "Someone attempted to poison you. Dr. Reynolds managed to neutralize the toxin just in time."
Adrian’s dark eyes swept the room, pausing briefly on Dante, then on the trembling maid kneeling near the bed, and finally resting on five-year-old Sophia, who was standing tall beside his massive guard dog.
Adrian looked down at Titan, seeing the terrifying beast resting his broad chin peacefully against the little girl's pink floral dress.
"Why is Titan letting that child touch him?" Adrian asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous, quiet register. "Titan has ripped the throat out of every stranger who ever tried to step within five feet of him."
Elena swallowed hard, her knuckles white as she held Sophia's teddy bear. "Mr. Moretti... my daughter... she didn't mean any harm—"
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Before Elena could finish her sentence, a guard rushed back into the room, holding a small silver burner phone sealed inside a clear plastic bag.
"Boss!" the guard reported nervously. "We found this encrypted phone hidden beneath Ms. Castillo's mattress in the servant quarters!"
