Chapter 9 - The Ultimatum at Dawn
I pulled my wrist gently from his grasp, maintaining my composure despite the sudden, erratic beating of my heart.
“I wasn't sneaking, Mr. Moretti,” I said steadily, looking straight up into his piercing eyes. “I was doing a late-night perimeter check of the domestic wing. I heard voices. I wanted to ensure the estate was secure.”
Alessandro studied my face for a long, silent moment, searching for any sign of deceit. Finding none, his smile softened into something far more complicated—something raw and guarded.
“Elena worries too much about shadows,” Alessandro murmured, stepping closer, closing the distance between us until I could smell the faint scent of cedar and expensive tobacco on his collar. “She thinks everyone has a hidden agenda. She doesn't understand that some people are exactly what they appear to be.”
“And what do I appear to be to you?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, testing the dangerous boundaries of our employer-employee dynamic.
“An anomaly,” Alessandro answered honestly. “A woman who cleans floors by day and dismantles billion-dollar treason rings by accident. Tell me, Judith... do you ever regret taking this job?”
“Every time I look at your security guards and wonder if my daughter is safe,” I replied without blinking. “But the alternative was watching her grow up in a basement while people like Vivian threw wine on Persian rugs and treated human beings like garbage. So no. I don't regret it.”
Alessandro’s expression darkened with a quiet, fierce admiration. He reached out, his warm fingers brushing lightly against my cheek—right over the faint, vanished scar where Vivian’s hand had struck me weeks ago.
“No one will ever touch you in this house again,” he said, his voice dropping into a low, solemn vow. “I give you my word.”
Before I could find the words to reply, a sudden, piercing alarm echoed through the grand stone corridors of Villa Moretti.
Red emergency strobe lights flashed along the vaulted ceiling.
Alessandro’s demeanor transformed instantly from a quiet, contemplative man into an apex predator. His hand dropped from my face as he whipped the encrypted radio comms unit from his lapel.
“Mateo report!” Alessandro barked into the device.
“Boss!” Mateo’s voice crackled back, heavy with static and urgency. “Perimeter breach at the west gate! Two armed mercenaries from the Rossi syndicate bypassed the outer cameras. They’re heading straight for the service elevators toward the east wing!”
My blood ran cold.
The east wing.
Where Emma was sleeping.
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Without waiting for a command, I turned and sprinted down the hallway toward the grand staircase like a woman possessed, my heels clacking furiously against the marble.
“Judith, wait!” Alessandro roared, drawing his 9mm sidearm from his shoulder holster as he chased after me.
