Chapter 5: Shadows in the Dark
Chapter 5: Shadows in the Dark
Darkness swallowed the room.
Not the gentle darkness of midnight.
This was complete.
The emergency lights had failed.
The shattered windows let in only faint flashes of lightning from the storm rolling over Boston Harbor.
Aria couldn't breathe.
She had heard it.
Breathing.
Slow.
Steady.
Someone was still inside Dante's office.
Her fingers tightened around the old photograph Evelyn Carter had left behind.
Every lesson her father had drilled into her screamed the same command.
Don't move.
Don't speak.
Don't make them angry.
A floorboard creaked.
Closer this time.
She instinctively backed away until her shoulders struck the cold wall.
"Who's there?" she whispered.
No answer.
Only another step.
Then another.
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
She looked desperately toward the doorway.
"Dante?"
Silence.
The next flash of lightning illuminated the room for only a fraction of a second.
It was enough.
A masked man stood less than fifteen feet away.
A suppressed pistol pointed directly at her chest.
The light vanished.
Darkness returned.
Outside the office, Dante was already running back through the west corridor.
His instincts screamed that something was wrong.
The power outage had come too quickly.
Too cleanly.
"This wasn't the sniper," he said into his earpiece.
"They cut the generators."
Luca's voice answered immediately.
"The backup system was sabotaged."
"Someone's inside."
Dante's expression hardened.
"Seal every exit."
"No one leaves this estate."
Inside the office...
The masked man spoke first.
"Mrs. Rossi."
His voice was distorted.
"Come with me."
Aria didn't answer.
"You have five seconds."
"I...I won't."
He laughed quietly.
"You think Dante Rossi can protect you?"
She swallowed hard.
"I know he will."
The words surprised even her.
For the first time in years...
She believed them.
The gunman tilted his head.
"That's unfortunate."
His finger tightened on the trigger.
The office door burst open.
"Get down!"
Dante's voice exploded through the darkness.
A gunshot echoed.
The assassin fired first.
Dante shoved Aria toward the floor.
The bullet tore through his left shoulder instead.
The force spun him sideways.
Blood splattered across the polished wood floor.
"Dante!"
Aria screamed.
The assassin fired again.
This time Dante returned fire.
Three rapid shots.
The masked man dove through the broken window into the darkness outside.
Security alarms erupted once more.
"He's escaping!"
Luca's voice echoed from the gardens.
"After him!"
Within seconds, dozens of Rossi soldiers disappeared into the forest surrounding the estate.
The office fell silent again.
Dante leaned against the desk.
Blood soaked through the sleeve of his black shirt.
Aria stared at the crimson stain spreading across the fabric.
"You've been shot."
"I noticed."
His attempt at humor failed.
His face had grown pale.
He pressed one hand against the wound.
"Medical team is coming."
But they were still several minutes away.
Too long.
Aria looked around frantically.
Her eyes landed on a first-aid cabinet mounted beside the bookshelf.
Without thinking, she ran toward it.
She pulled it open.
Bandages.
Gauze.
Antiseptic.
She grabbed everything.
Dante watched in surprise.
"What are you doing?"
"Sit down."
His eyebrow lifted.
"That sounded like an order."
"Please."
There was fear in her voice.
But something else too.
Determination.
He lowered himself into a chair.
Her hands trembled violently as she cut away the torn sleeve.
The bullet had passed cleanly through the muscle.
There was a lot of blood.
But no exit wound near the chest.
Relief washed over her.
"It's not your heart."
"I was hoping for the same conclusion."
She almost smiled.
Almost.
She poured antiseptic onto the wound.
Dante's jaw tightened.
He didn't make a sound.
"Doesn't that hurt?"
"It does."
"You don't show it."
"I learned a long time ago that pain gives your enemies confidence."
Aria carefully pressed fresh gauze against the wound.
"I'm sorry."
"For hurting you."
He looked at her.
"You didn't shoot me."
"I know."
"But you're bleeding because you protected me."
Silence settled between them.
Then Dante quietly replied,
"I'd do it again."
Her hands stopped moving.
She stared at him.
No one had ever said words like that to her.
Not once.
Not in twenty-two years.
She finished wrapping the bandage around his shoulder.
When she tied the final knot...
She realized something.
She had been touching him for nearly five minutes.
And she hadn't been afraid.
Dante noticed it too.
A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth.
"You didn't flinch."
Aria looked down at her hands.
They were resting against his chest.
Steady.
Calm.
She slowly pulled them away.
"I guess..."
She whispered.
"...I forgot to."
Moments later, the estate's physician rushed into the office with two nurses.
They examined Dante's wound.
"You're lucky," the doctor said.
"The bullet missed the artery by less than an inch."
Luca entered behind them.
His expression was grim.
"We lost him."
"The assassin knew the woods."
"He had help."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
"Inside help?"
Luca nodded.
"The security cameras covering the west corridor looped exactly ninety seconds before the attack."
"Someone disabled them from inside the mansion."
The room became silent.
One of Dante's own people had betrayed him.
As the doctor finished stitching the wound, another guard hurried into the office carrying something sealed inside an evidence bag.
"Boss."
"We found this outside the broken window."
Inside the plastic bag was a silver cufflink.
Elegant.
Expensive.
Engraved with a single symbol.
A crowned lion.
Luca's face changed immediately.
"I know that crest."
Dante looked up.
"So do I."
Neither man spoke for several seconds.
Finally Luca said the name both had hoped never to hear again.
"The Morelli Family."
Dante's oldest rivals.
A mafia empire believed to have been destroyed nearly ten years earlier.
"They're supposed to be gone," Aria whispered.
Dante's expression became colder than winter.
"No."
"They've been waiting."
Later that night...
Aria returned to the master suite.
She placed Evelyn Carter's photograph on the bedside table.
Only then did she notice something hidden beneath the frame.
A tiny folded piece of paper.
She unfolded it carefully.
Inside were only six handwritten words.
Trust no one inside this house.
Before she could read anything else...
Someone quietly turned the doorknob from the outside.
Very slowly.
As if testing whether the door was locked.
Aria held her breath.
The handle stopped moving.
Then...
May you like
Three soft knocks echoed through the silent room.
End of Chapter 5
