Chapter 3 - The Threat on the Encrypted Laptop
Lucaās hand on her chin did not flinch, but the ambient temperature inside the apartment seemed to plummet into sub-zero stillness.
His gray eyes hardened into two pieces of razor-sharp obsidian.
"Show me," Luca ordered, his voice chillingly calm.
Mila led him to her small wooden desk in the corner.
She turned the laptop screen toward him.
"When I got home at nine o'clock," Mila explained, her voice shaking slightly, "the window latch on the fire escape was scratched open. My personal hard drive was missing from my desk drawer. And when I powered on my work laptop, this file was left on my desktop."
Luca leaned over the desk, his massive frame casting a protective shadow over her.
He tapped the trackpad, opening the red-flagged digital document:
TARGET FILE: MILA HAYES (SR. EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT ā ROMANO MARITIME)
CLASSIFICATION: HOSTILE LEVERAGE PROTOCOL
MESSAGE: 'HAND OVER THE TRANSATLANTIC ROUTING ENCRYPTION KEYS BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY, OR YOUR APARTMENT BECOMES YOUR CREMATORIUM.'
Below the message was an unsealed surveillance photograph taken three hours earlierāshowing Mila walking into her local grocery store, with a red laser sight centered directly over her chest.
Luca stood up slowly.
He pulled an encrypted black satellite smartphone from his interior coat pocket, pressing a single speed-dial key.
"Captain Miller," the voice of his tactical chief crackled over the line.
"Protocol Cerberus," Luca spoke into the phone, his baritone steady as an executioner's blade. "Secure the perimeter of this block. Deploy drone surveillance on all four alleys. And bring Arthur Pendelton to the safehouse immediately."
"Understood, Boss."
Luca slid the phone back into his jacket, turning his attention to Mila.
"Pack one bag," Luca said, his tone leaving zero room for argument. "You are leaving this building right now."
"Mr. Romano... I can just go to a hotel in Lincoln Parkā"
Luca took a single step closer, closing the distance between them until his chest was inches from hers.
He reached out, his hand gently resting against the curve of her neck, his thumb resting over the frantic beat of her pulse.
"You are not going to a hotel, Mila," Luca murmured, his eyes dark with an unyielding, possessive intensity. "You are coming to my residence. You called me tonight because you knew nobody else in this city could keep you alive. And I do not leave what belongs to me in the dark."
Milaās breath caught in her throat.
Her heart stumbled, a strange, electric warmth blossoming through her veins.
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For four years, she had hidden behind her quiet demeanor, believing she was invisible.
She had never realized that the most dangerous man in Chicago had been watching her every single second.
