Chapter 18 - Protecting the Innocent|
Dante did not panic. Panic was a luxury for men who didn't rule empires.
He picked up Sophia in one arm, holding her securely against his chest, and walked quickly out of the library toward the back service corridor.
He met Elena coming up the stairs holding a tray of warm cinnamon cookies.
“Mr. Moretti!” Elena gasped, seeing her daughter in the boss’s arms. “I am so sorry, she slipped out while I was pulling the tray from the oven—”
“Elena,” Dante interrupted, his voice dropping into a low, iron-clad command. “Do not go into the main house. Take Sophia, walk out through the kitchen service door immediately, and get into Frank’s armored truck at the gate.”
Elena dropped the silver tray. The cookies tumbled onto the floorboards, but she didn't look at them. The absolute gravity in Dante’s eyes told her everything she needed to know.
“Is it... is it happening again, sir?” she whispered, her face pale with dread.
“No,” Dante said, gently handing Sophia over to her mother’s arms. “This is where it ends.”
He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a thick envelope containing fifty thousand dollars in cash and two blank European passports he kept in his personal safe, and pressed it into Elena’s hand.
“If the estate lights go out in the next ten minutes, Frank will drive you to the airstrip in Teterboro,” Dante instructed smoothly. “My private plane will take you to a villa in Spain. You will be safe there forever.”
Elena looked at the cash, then at Dante’s dark, unreadable face, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“Thank you, Mr. Moretti,” she sobbed.
“Go,” Dante commanded.
May you like
He watched her run down the service stairs with Sophia tucked tight against her shoulder. Once the metal heavy door at the bottom of the stairs clicked shut, Dante pulled out his satellite phone.
“Mateo,” Dante said into the mic. “Evacuate all staff from the grounds. We have a active thermite device under the study desk.”
