Chapter 1 - The Trap within the Walls
The metallic click of the lock echoed like a gunshot in the quiet nursery,
sending a chill down my spine that had nothing to do with the air conditioning.
I spun around,
my pistol still heavy in my hand,
and lunged for the handle of the reinforced oak door.
It didn't budge.
The nursery was designed to be a sanctuary,
a bulletproof room built to withstand a siege,
but in an instant,
it had become a tomb.
I turned back to the maid,
Hunter,
who was still standing by the crib with my son pressed to her chest.
She looked terrified,
her eyes wide and shimmering with unshed tears,
yet she didn't let go of Leo.
"Who locked it?"
she whispered,
her voice trembling as much as her hands.
I didn't answer her,
because my mind was already racing through the list of people who had the security codes.
Only three people besides myself knew how to override the manual locks from the outside.
My head of security,
the doctor,
and the night nurse.
I looked at the nurse,
who was still slumped in the chair,
the wineglass tilted precariously in her hand.
She wasn't sleeping.
I stepped closer,
my heart hammering against my ribs,
and pressed two fingers against her neck.
Her skin was cool,
and her pulse was sluggish,
drugged by more than just a glass of cheap Merlot.
"She’s been poisoned,"
I muttered,
the realization hitting me like a physical blow.
Hunter let out a small gasp,
stepping back into the shadows of the room.
"If she's drugged,"
Hunter said,
looking down at Leo,
"then who has been feeding him?"
The question hung in the air,
heavy and suffocating.
For two weeks,
I had watched my son waste away,
trusting the experts and the staff I had handpicked.
I looked at the bottles of expensive formula lined up on the counter,
each one supposedly a miracle cure.
I walked over and picked one up,
unscrewing the cap.
The smell was faint,
sweet and clinical,
but there was a metallic undertone that shouldn't have been there.
Someone had been sabotaging his food,
ensuring he stayed weak,
ensuring he would eventually die.
And I,
Lorenzo Rossi,
the man who ruled this city with an iron fist,
had allowed it to happen right under my nose.
The monitor chirped again,
the green light flashing steadily.
Leo’s heart rate was stabilizing,
his breathing rhythmic and deep for the first time in his short life.
Hunter looked at me,
defiance flickering in her gaze despite her fear.
"He's eating because he knows it's safe,"
she said,
her voice gaining strength.
"He's not sick,
Mr. Rossi."
"He's being murdered."
The words were a dagger in my gut,
stripping away the last of my composure.
I looked at the door again,
then at the small,
unassuming woman who had just saved my son’s life.
I realized then that the enemies outside my gates were nothing compared to the monsters inside my walls.
And whoever had locked that door was waiting for us to stop moving.
But they didn't know who they were dealing with.
I wasn't just a grieving father.
May you like
I was a predator.
And someone was about to find out what happens when you touch what belongs to me.
