Chapter 4: The Locked Room
Chapter 4: The Locked Room
Three days after the wedding, the Rossi estate had settled into an uneasy routine.
Aria still occupied the master suite.
Dante still slept in the guest wing.
They shared breakfast only twice.
Dinner once.
Most conversations lasted no longer than a minute.
Yet every servant in the mansion noticed the same thing.
Mrs. Rossi no longer looked over her shoulder every few seconds.
She still startled at loud noises.
She still apologized too often.
But she had begun to breathe a little easier.
Dante considered that a victory.
Late one afternoon, Aria wandered through the west corridor of the mansion.
She had been trying to memorize the enormous estate, hoping one day she wouldn't feel like a guest inside her own home.
Most doors were unlocked.
Some led to libraries.
Others opened into meeting rooms or guest suites.
At the very end of the hallway stood a heavy black oak door unlike any other.
There was no decoration.
No nameplate.
Only a fingerprint scanner and an old-fashioned brass keyhole.
Curious, Aria reached for the handle.
To her surprise...
It opened.
Someone had forgotten to lock it.
The room inside was enormous.
This was not an office.
It was a command center.
One entire wall displayed a giant map of Boston.
Colored pins marked dozens of locations.
Red.
Blue.
Black.
White strings connected neighborhoods, warehouses, shipping docks, banks, and government buildings.
Another wall held shelves filled with leather-bound files.
Names.
Photographs.
Financial records.
Court documents.
Police reports.
Everything was arranged with military precision.
A massive wooden desk stood near the windows.
Unlike the rest of the mansion, the room felt almost cold.
Functional.
Every object served a purpose.
Aria slowly stepped farther inside.
There were no gold statues.
No expensive artwork.
No symbols of power.
Only information.
Her eyes landed on a bulletin board.
At the center...
Her own photograph.
She froze.
Around it were dozens of newspaper clippings.
Medical reports.
School records.
Charity photographs.
Flight logs.
Phone records.
Someone had investigated her life in extraordinary detail.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She whispered,
"What...?"
Pinned beside her picture were three words written in Dante's handwriting.
Something doesn't fit.
She moved closer.
A timeline stretched across the wall.
Age six.
Age nine.
Age twelve.
Age sixteen.
Each year contained notes.
Missing medical history.
Disappearing employees.
Conflicting witness statements.
Destroyed records.
One photograph caught her attention.
It showed her standing beside an elderly woman she had not seen in years.
Mrs. Evelyn Carter.
Her childhood nanny.
Aria's breath caught.
Beneath the picture Dante had written:
Last known witness. Missing for fourteen years.
Tears immediately filled her eyes.
Evelyn.
The only adult who had ever hugged her.
The only one who secretly brought her books.
The only one who whispered,
"None of this is your fault."
One day...
She had simply disappeared.
Her father claimed she had stolen money and fled the country.
Aria had believed him.
Until now.
"You weren't supposed to see this."
The calm voice behind her nearly made her scream.
She turned.
Dante stood quietly in the doorway.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't smiling.
He simply looked tired.
"I...I'm sorry."
She immediately stepped backward.
"I didn't mean to invade your privacy."
"You didn't."
She blinked.
"The door was unlocked."
"It was."
"I should leave."
"You can stay."
That answer surprised both of them.
Dante walked to the desk.
He picked up a folder before looking directly at her.
"I wasn't investigating you."
He paused.
"I was investigating what happened to you."
Aria lowered her eyes.
"There isn't anything to investigate."
"There is."
"My father—"
"Your father is lying."
Her entire body stiffened.
"You don't know him."
"No."
"I know evidence."
He slid several documents across the desk.
"Hospitals erased your records."
"Teachers changed their statements."
"Employees disappeared."
"Judges signed sealed orders."
"Someone spent millions making sure nobody ever asked questions."
He met her eyes.
"People don't do that unless they're hiding something."
Aria stared silently at the papers.
Her hands began shaking.
"No..."
"They're mistaken."
Dante's voice remained steady.
"Look at me."
She couldn't.
"I said look at me."
Slowly...
She did.
"Did your father ever hit you?"
Silence.
"No."
"Did he ever threaten you?"
"No."
"Did he ever make you afraid?"
She answered too quickly.
"No."
Dante nodded once.
"You just lied three times."
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
She hated that he knew.
She hated that she couldn't stop crying.
Most of all...
She hated the tiny part of herself that wanted to tell him everything.
A loud explosion shattered the silence.
BOOM!
The windows behind Dante exploded inward.
Glass erupted across the room.
Without thinking—
Dante lunged.
He wrapped one arm around Aria and threw both of them behind the massive oak desk.
A deafening crack echoed through the office.
A sniper round tore through the wall where Aria had been standing one second earlier.
"Stay down!"
Another shot.
Glass rained from the ceiling.
Security alarms screamed throughout the mansion.
Red emergency lights flashed.
Voices echoed from the hallway.
"Protect the Boss!"
"Lock down the estate!"
"Find the shooter!"
Aria couldn't move.
She was trapped beneath Dante's body as he shielded her from flying debris.
For a terrifying second...
She thought he was going to hurt her.
Instead...
He covered the back of her head with his hand to protect her from the shattered glass.
His own shoulder took the impact of falling wood and broken marble.
He didn't even flinch.
"Are you hurt?" he asked.
She stared at him.
"What?"
"Answer me."
"I...I don't think so."
"Good."
Only then did he stand.
His pistol appeared in his hand with practiced speed.
He looked toward the destroyed window.
"Stay here."
Before she could protest, he disappeared into the hallway.
Outside, chaos had consumed the estate.
Armed Rossi soldiers flooded the gardens.
Dogs barked wildly.
Searchlights swept across the surrounding forest.
Luca ran toward Dante.
"South ridge!"
"One shooter."
"Professional."
"Already gone."
Dante looked toward the broken office window.
"He wasn't aiming at me."
Luca frowned.
"You think..."
"He had a clear shot."
"He waited."
"He fired only after Aria stepped near the window."
Silence.
The realization struck both men at the same time.
The sniper hadn't come for Dante Rossi.
He had come for Aria Sterling.
Inside the office, Aria slowly stood.
Her legs felt weak.
She looked at the shattered glass scattered across the floor.
Then her eyes fell upon the investigation board.
One photograph had been knocked loose by the explosion.
It landed face-up near her feet.
She picked it up.
It showed a little girl standing beside a smiling blonde woman.
On the back, someone had written in faded ink:
"If anything happens to me... tell Aria the truth."
The handwriting belonged to Evelyn Carter.
Before Aria could read anything else, the lights suddenly went out.
The emergency generators failed.
The room fell into complete darkness.
Then...
She heard breathing.
May you like
Someone else was still inside the office.
End of Chapter 4
