Chapter 4 - Whispers Behind Closed Doors
Midnight descended upon the estate once more, bringing with it a thick, rolling sea fog that swallowed the marble courtyard whole. Instead of retiring to my bedroom, I remained seated in the dark of my study, the leather ledger open on my desk, illuminated only by the amber glow of a solitary desk lamp.
At 1:15 A.M., the faint creak of floorboards echoed from the hidden corridor behind the bookshelf.
I did not move. I simply rested my hand over the grip of the Beretta.
The secret panel slid open an inch, and a shadow slipped into the room. It was not the mysterious stranger from two nights prior, but Isabella herself, draped in a dark cloak, her face pale and taut with anxiety. She locked the study door quietly behind her, hurrying toward the desk with frantic movements.
“Dante,” she hissed under her breath, not realizing I was sitting motionless in the shadows of the corner. She reached for the private drawer, frantically tossing aside files in search of something specific.
“Looking for this?” I asked softly.
Isabella froze mid-motion. She gasped, spinning around so fast her cloak whipped through the air. As I stood up from the darkness, the light caught my face, revealing an expression devoid of mercy.
“Alessandro... you’re awake,” she stammered, her hands hovering helplessly over the desk.
“I am always awake, Isabella,” I said, closing the distance between us with measured, terrifying steps. “Especially when rats begin chewing through the foundation of my house. Who was the man in here at 3:00 A.M.? And what does Victor have to do with the missing shipping assets?”
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For a moment, panic rippled across her features. But then, to my utter astonishment, her expression shifted. The panic bled away, replaced by an agonizing, heavy sorrow. Tears welled in her eyes—not the manipulative tears of a caught liar, but the desperate grief of someone cornered by forces beyond their control.
“If I tell you,” she whispered, her voice cracking, “Victor will kill you before the week is out.”
