Chapter 3 - THE SKELETON IN THE CELLAR
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The heavy wooden doors swung open three minutes later with a violent thud.
Two armed guards dragged a soaked, terrified man across the foyer.
His muddy boots scuffed the pristine white marble.
The driver dropped to his knees, his hands trembling violently above his head.
“Please, Mr. Moretti!”
The man choked out the words through chattering teeth.
“I was just hired for a job!”
“I swear on my mother’s life, I didn’t know who the kid belonged to!”
Luca stepped toward him, his tailored suit casting an ominous shadow over the kneeling man.
He tossed Bruno’s silver dog tag onto the floor between the man’s knees.
“Look at that tag.”
The driver glanced down, his eyes wide with horror.
“Read what it says.”
“I—it says Benjamin and Bruno.”
Luca crouched down until his face was inches from the driver’s nose.
“You came to take my only son.”
“Who gave you the order?”
The driver didn’t hesitate for a single second.
He raised a shaking finger and pointed directly at Vanessa.
“Her!”
“She contacted me through an encrypted signal channel three weeks ago!”
“She transferred twenty-five grand upfront from a shell corporation!”
Vanessa’s hands flew to her mouth as she let out a shriek of panic.
“He’s lying!”
“I’ve never seen this disgusting criminal before in my life!”
The driver pulled a cracked burner phone from his soaked leather jacket and slammed it onto the tile.
“Check the messages!”
“She sent me the floor plans of the mansion!”
“She told me the security codes to the service elevator!”
“She said the old hound was the only obstacle because the dog sleeps outside the boy’s bedroom door!”
I felt the blood drain completely from my face as I clutched Benjamin.
The little boy was shaking violently, his tiny fingers clinging to my uniform collar.
“Daddy…”
Benjamin sobbed softly.
“She told me Bruno was bad.”
“She said if Bruno went to sleep forever, I would finally be happy.”
Bruno let out a low, menacing growl from the floor, his cloudy golden eyes locked onto Vanessa.
Despite his aching, fourteen-year-old joints, the old retriever slowly pushed himself onto all four paws.
He positioned his body right in front of Benjamin’s knees, guarding the boy with the final ounces of his strength.
Luca picked up the burner phone from the floor.
His thumb scrolled through the illuminated screen.
The blue glow reflected the deadly rage hardening his features.
“You sent him the security bypass I gave you on our wedding night.”
Luca spoke so softly that the chandelier crystals seemed to vibrate.
Vanessa fell to her knees, her silk dress spreading out like pool of spilled blood.
“Luca, please listen to me!”
“They threatened my family!”
“I had no choice!”
Luca didn’t blink.
“Who threatened you, Vanessa?”
She hesitated, her eyes darting toward the basement hallway.
Bruno suddenly barked—a deep, resonant sound that echoed off the high ceiling.
The old dog took three limping steps toward the dark corridor leading down to the cellar.
He planted his gray muzzle toward the shadows and bared his worn teeth.
May you like
Luca’s gaze followed the dog’s warning.
“There’s someone else down there, isn’t there?”
