Chapter 4 - The Changing Of The Guard
The medical team arrived within minutes,
their footsteps heavy and urgent on the cottage floor.
Alessandro watched as they lifted Sophia onto a stretcher,
the plastic sheets crinkling in the quiet room.
He kept Emma close to him,
his hand resting on her shoulder,
a silent shield against the chaos.
They moved her to the mansion,
to a secure room that had once been used for interrogations,
now transformed into a high-tech infirmary.
Alessandro stood in the hallway,
the lights overhead flickering with a rhythmic hum.
His head of security,
a man named Dante,
approached him with a concerned frown.
"Boss,
what's going on?"
Dante asked,
glancing at the child.
"Why is the housekeeper in the high-security wing?"
Alessandro looked at Dante,
a man who had been with him for ten years,
and saw the suspicion in his eyes.
"She has information,"
Alessandro said,
the lie smooth and cold on his tongue.
"Information that involves the Bianchis."
Dante stiffened,
his hand moving instinctively toward his holster.
"The Bianchis are gone,
Boss.
We finished them."
"Not all of them,"
Alessandro replied,
his eyes narrowing.
"And until I know exactly what she has,
nobody goes in that room."
"Not even you."
Dante nodded,
but there was a flicker of something in his expression—resentment,
perhaps,
or fear.
Alessandro turned away,
leading Emma toward the grand dining room.
The table was set for one,
a vast expanse of white linen and silver.
He sat the little girl in the chair at the head of the table,
the one his father had used to rule from.
She looked tiny and out of place,
clutching a silver spoon like a toy.
"Are you hungry,
Emma?"
he asked.
She nodded,
her eyes darting around the dark,
imposing room.
"I want pasta,"
she said.
"Mama makes it with the red sauce."
Alessandro called the kitchen,
his voice echoing in the empty hall.
"Pasta pomodoro,"
he ordered.
"Make it exactly like the housekeeper does."
He sat across from her,
watching as the chef brought out a small bowl of steaming noodles.
As she ate,
getting sauce on her chin and her drenched dress,
Alessandro realized that his life had changed.
The fortress was no longer just a place to hide,
it was a place to protect.
And the enemy wasn't just outside the gates anymore,
May you like
they were already inside,
waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
