Chapter 5 - The Traitor's Strike
The dynamic in the estate shifted irrevocably.
Clara no longer cleaned the floors.
Arthur moved her into a massive guest suite in the executive wing, posting two armed guards outside her door.
She was essentially a prisoner of his protection.
Enzo was furious.
The underboss cornered Arthur in the study one evening, his face red with suppressed rage.
“The men are talking, boss,” Enzo warned carefully.
“Let them talk,” Arthur replied, pouring a drink.
“They think you are going soft.”
“They think you risked the entire operation during the raid for a servant girl.”
Arthur stopped pouring.
He turned slowly, his eyes as cold as the bottom of the ocean.
“If any man in this family speaks her name, I will cut out his tongue.”
“Do you understand me, Enzo?”
Enzo swallowed hard, nodding quickly.
“Yes, boss.”
But Enzo’s loyalty had fractured.
He believed Arthur was compromised, blinded by a woman who offered no tactical advantage to the family.
Two days later, Clara grew restless in her gilded cage.
She convinced one of her guards to let her walk the estate gardens for some fresh air.
She was admiring the rose bushes near the south wall when her encrypted phone vibrated.
She pulled it out.
A message flashed on the screen: Arthur is hurt. Come to the west gate immediately. Do not alert the guards.
Panic seized Clara’s chest.
She did not stop to think.
She ran toward the west gate, slipping past the distracted patrolmen.
The heavy iron gate was slightly ajar.
She stepped through it, looking wildly down the private road.
“Arthur?” she called out.
A heavy hand clamped over her mouth from behind.
A rag soaked in chloroform was pressed forcefully against her nose and mouth.
Clara fought violently, kicking and scratching, but her attacker was too strong.
The world quickly dissolved into a dark, chemical haze.
Before she lost consciousness entirely, she heard a familiar voice speaking to her captors.
“Take her to the Falcones.”
May you like
“Tell them Arthur Moretti will trade anything to get her back.”
It was Enzo.
