Chapter 10 - Midnight at the Romano Estate
Gabriele had never hated distance more.
Twenty miles.
That was all.
Twenty miles between him and Leo.
Between him and his mother.
Between him and the possibility of losing everything a second time.
Marco drove.
Fast.
Federica sat beside Gabriele in the rear.
He called the estate.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Security radio.
Dead.
Gabriele’s face became terrifyingly still.
Federica touched his arm.
“Backup system.”
“What?”
“Your estate must have redundant communications.”
“It does.”
“Can we access it remotely?”
Marco answered.
“Satellite channel.”
“Call.”
No response.
Federica took Gabriele’s phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Your security cameras.”
“Offline.”
“Local network may still exist.”
She tethered through an encrypted connection.
Failed.
Again.
Failed.
Then one doorbell camera loaded.
Dark driveway.
Rain.
Nothing.
Another.
Rear entrance.
Two guards down.
Alive?
Impossible to tell.
Gabriele leaned forward.
Then movement.
Masked men.
Five.
Entering through the kitchen.
Gabriele whispered something in Italian.
Federica did not need translation.
“Inside cameras?”
“Trying.”
Living room.
Empty.
Hallway.
Empty.
Nursery.
Federica’s heart stopped.
Crib empty.
Gabriele grabbed the phone.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
Another camera.
Library.
Rosa stood behind a sofa holding a fireplace poker.
Federica almost cried.
“That’s my aunt.”
Sofia beside her.
Both women alive.
One guard entered.
Rosa swung the poker.
He ducked.
Sofia threw a lamp.
Federica stared.
“Apparently we inherited poor judgment.”
Gabriele almost laughed despite the terror.
“Where is Leo?”
Camera switch.
Kitchen.
No.
Upstairs corridor.
No.
Basement.
Federica froze.
A hidden door stood open.
“What’s there?”
Gabriele looked.
“Old wine cellar.”
“Would your mother know it?”
“Yes.”
“Then Leo might be there.”
The SUV turned hard.
Ten minutes.
Too long.
Federica opened the smart-home control.
“Can I lock interior doors?”
“Yes.”
She did.
Kitchen door locked.
Two attackers trapped.
Another forced a hallway door.
Federica locked the next.
“They’ll override.”
“Then they waste time.”
Lights.
She switched them off.
Sprinklers.
Activated.
Gabriele stared.
“You really like sprinklers.”
“They’re useful.”
Marco said, “Seven minutes.”
At the estate, attackers moved toward the basement.
Federica watched through cameras.
One found the cellar door.
“Gabriele.”
He saw.
Inside the cellar, Sofia sat on the floor.
Leo in her arms.
Rosa beside her.
The door shook.
Sofia looked upward.
No panic.
She whispered something to Leo.
The door shook again.
Gabriele’s breathing changed.
Federica grabbed his hand.
“We’ll make it.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
She tightened her fingers.
“But they need us to.”
He looked at her.
The words steadied him.
Five minutes.
Federica searched the estate system.
Wine cellar climate controls.
Temperature.
Ventilation.
Door.
Electronic lock.
Already engaged.
Emergency feature.
She read.
“What is gas suppression?”
Gabriele’s eyes widened.
“Fire system.”
“Safe?”
“For short exposure.”
“Can it force evacuation?”
“Yes.”
Federica activated an alarm.
Inside the basement, warning lights flashed.
A prerecorded announcement sounded.
FIRE SUPPRESSION ACTIVATING. EVACUATE.
Attackers hesitated.
One ran.
Two continued.
“Three minutes,” Marco said.
Federica activated exterior sirens.
Every light on the property flashed.
A security horn screamed.
The attackers realized the estate was about to become impossible to control.
One fled.
Another reached the cellar.
Raised his weapon toward the lock.
Then Rosa appeared on the interior camera.
She pushed a wine rack.
A hidden shelf moved.
Federica blinked.
“What is she doing?”
Gabriele stared.
“She found the secondary passage.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Rosa later explained she had spent twenty minutes complaining about the wine selection and accidentally found the latch.
For now, the passage opened into a service corridor.
Sofia carried Leo.
Rosa followed.
The cellar door burst open behind them.
Federica changed cameras.
“Where does the passage exit?”
“Garage.”
Marco said, “One minute.”
The SUV crashed through the front gates.
Romano teams arrived behind them.
Gabriele was out before the car fully stopped.
Federica followed.
“Stay—”
“Don’t say it!”
Gunfire sounded from the rear.
Marco’s teams spread out.
Federica ran toward the garage.
Gabriele caught her.
“Behind me.”
This time she listened.
The garage door opened.
Sofia emerged.
Leo crying in her arms.
Rosa behind.
Alive.
Gabriele crossed the space.
He took Leo.
Held him against his chest.
His eyes closed.
The sound Federica heard from him was almost a prayer.
Sofia embraced her son.
Rosa reached Federica.
“I hate this family.”
Federica laughed through tears.
“I know.”
“They have terrible security.”
Marco overheard.
“Excuse me?”
“One out of five stars.”
Even Marco laughed.
The remaining attackers surrendered within minutes.
Nobody inside the family had died.
By 1:00 a.m., the estate was secure.
Enzo remained in custody at another location.
Evelyn Sterling was still missing.
Victor Sterling had vanished from the gala.
But Gray was exposed.
Federica sat on the kitchen floor because every chair suddenly seemed too far away.
Gabriele entered carrying Leo.
He sat beside her.
Not on a chair.
On the floor.
She looked at him.
“You own furniture.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Leo reached toward Federica.
Gabriele handed him over.
The baby settled immediately against her.
Gabriele watched.
“He trusts you.”
“He’s six months old.”
“He knows.”
Federica looked at Leo.
“He survived.”
“Because of you.”
“Because of everyone.”
Gabriele shook his head.
“Stop doing that.”
“What?”
“Making what you did smaller.”
She looked at him.
He continued.
“You saved him in the warehouse.”
“Anyone—”
“No.”
His voice stopped her.
“Anyone did not.”
Federica’s throat tightened.
“You saved my mother tonight.”
“The house system—”
“You.”
“Marco—”
“You.”
“Gabriele.”
He leaned closer.
“Why is it so difficult for you to believe that you matter?”
Federica had no answer.
Perhaps because she had spent her entire life comfortable at the edges.
Not invisible exactly.
Just unimportant enough that nobody expected anything.
Being needed was dangerous.
Being seen was worse.
Gabriele watched her.
“I noticed you the first week you worked for us.”
Federica looked at him.
“Why?”
“You corrected a vice president during a board meeting.”
“He was wrong.”
“That was why.”
“I thought you moved me because of the audit.”
“I did.”
“Only that?”
Gabriele paused.
“No.”
Her heartbeat changed.
“Why else?”
“Because somebody had begun asking questions about you.”
“Gray?”
“I didn’t know who.”
“So you protected me.”
“Yes.”
“Without telling me.”
“You would have refused.”
“I would have.”
“I know.”
Federica smiled faintly.
Then the expression left her face.
“What happens now?”
“We dismantle Gray.”
“And Sterling?”
“We find Evelyn.”
“And Victor?”
“Victor is not our main problem.”
Federica nodded.
“And afterward?”
Gabriele looked at her.
“Afterward what?”
“What happens to me?”
His answer came instantly.
“You stay.”
She blinked.
“That sounded disturbingly like an order.”
He softened.
“I want you to stay.”
“Working for Romano?”
“No.”
Silence.
Gabriele looked toward Leo.
Then back at her.
“With me.”
Federica stopped breathing.
He did not touch her.
Did not pressure.
He simply waited.
For the first time since they met, Gabriele Romano placed something important in somebody else’s hands.
A choice.
Federica whispered, “You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
“That is what dangerous men say before making poor decisions.”
“I am capable of learning.”
“Are you?”
“With difficulty.”
She smiled.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Every soft expression disappeared.
Federica answered on speaker.
Evelyn Sterling’s voice came through.
“Congratulations.”
Gabriele’s face hardened.
Evelyn continued.
“You found Enzo.”
Federica said, “You abandoned him.”
“He became inconvenient.”
“Your favorite category.”
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
A pause.
“To warn you.”
“About what?”
“Enzo was never the final authority.”
Everyone nearby became silent.
Federica looked at Gabriele.
Evelyn whispered:
“Gray is not one person.”
Then she disconnected.
Federica stared at the phone.
On the laptop across the room, one of the stolen Gray files opened automatically.
A list appeared.
Twelve names.
Judges.
Executives.
Security chiefs.
One federal official.
And at the top—
A name Federica recognized immediately.
Because he had been sitting at the Romano estate all evening pretending to protect them.
Marco Bellini.
Federica slowly raised her eyes.
Marco stood in the doorway.
May you like
And he had a gun in his hand.
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