Chapter 5 - The Snake in the Garden
Adrian released Clara’s hand instantly, stepping back as his corporate and lethal persona clicked back into place like armor sliding into position.
"When?" Adrian asked Gray, his voice instantly dropping to below freezing.
"Eight o'clock tonight," Gray reported. "The old fish processing plant on Pier 4. Moretti’s lawyers sent a formal subpoena notice to your legal team ten minutes ago. He claims he wants to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the harbor shipping rights."
"It's a trap," Adrian said coldly, buttoning his suit jacket. "Julian Moretti doesn't negotiate. He clears the board."
He turned to look at Clara. She was standing by his desk, clutching her shears, looking between him and Gray with wide, anxious eyes. She had heard the name Moretti—everyone in South Boston knew the Moretti family. They were the oldest, most ruthless crime syndicate in New England, linked to dock extortions, arson, and unsolved disappearances.
"Ms. Vance," Adrian said, his voice stiff and professional once more. "Gray will escort you home early today. You will stay inside your apartment tonight. Do not go out, do not open your shop tomorrow, and keep your phone on."
"Adrian..." Clara said, her voice laced with sudden, genuine worry. "Is it dangerous?"
Adrian looked at her for a long moment. He saw the genuine fear in her eyes—not fear of him, but fear for him. The realization hit him like a physical punch. She cared about his safety.
"I handle threats for a living, Clara," Adrian said softly, using her first name for the very first time. "Focus on Lily. I will handle Julian Moretti."
Two hours later, Clara was back in her small apartment above Wildflower & Oak in Charlestown.
The rain was pouring heavily now, drumming a relentless rhythm against her windowpanes. She couldn't sit still. She paced her small living room, making tea she didn't drink, looking out at the dark street. Two dark sedans were parked at the corners of her block—Adrian’s security guards, keeping watch over her just as Gray had promised.
At 7:30 PM, her shop’s landline phone rang downstairs.
Clara ran down the spiral staircase into the dark, sweet-smelling floral shop, picking up the receiver on the third ring. "Hello? Wildflower & Oak."
"Ms. Vance," a smooth, unfamiliar voice echoed through the speaker. The accent was thick, refined, and drenched in artificial politeness. "How lovely to speak to the woman who has captured the heart of the great Adrian Vale."
Clara’s blood turned to ice. "Who is this?"
"My name is Julian Moretti," the voice replied smoothly. "And I am currently sitting in a car outside a very quiet dock on Pier 4, waiting for your employer to arrive."
"What do you want?" Clara demanded, her hand tightening around the phone until her knuckles turned white.
"I want what Adrian Vale took from me three years ago," Moretti said, his tone dropping into something dark and venomous. "Control of the Boston waterfront. But more than that... I want to see the invincible billionaire crawl. You see, Ms. Vance, Adrian thinks he is very clever. He put security guards outside your shop tonight. But he didn't realize that one of his head estate guards—a man named Miller—has been on my payroll for eighteen months."
Clara gasped, backing away from the counter.
"Miller just unlocked the west gate of the Vale estate," Moretti chuckled softly. "While Adrian is on his way to Pier 4 to fight my men, my second team is currently walking up the stairs to the third floor of his house. To take little Lily."
"NO!" Clara screamed into the phone.
"If you want the child to live, Ms. Vance," Moretti instructed coldly, "you will call Adrian right now. Tell him to walk onto Pier 4 alone, unarmed, and surrender his holdings to my men. If he calls the police, or if his security team fires a single shot... my men in his house will cut the little girl's throat."
The line went dead.
Clara dropped the phone, her mind spinning into complete, terrifying chaos.
She ran to the front window of her shop. Outside, the two dark sedans parked on her street sat completely still in the rain. Adrian’s main security force was spread thin, believing his estate was a fortress and that the threat was at Pier 4. They didn't know about the traitor inside the walls.
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There was no time to call Gray. There was no time to explain. If Adrian got the call at Pier 4, he would surrender himself and be executed on the spot, and Moretti would kill Lily anyway to eliminate witnesses.
Clara ran to the back room of her shop, grabbed her heavy iron shears, snatched her truck keys off the peg, and tore out the back door into the pouring New England rain.
