Chapter 8 - The Hostage
Giorgio smiled, a sickening display of triumph that made Clara’s blood run cold.
He held a small silver pistol pressed against the side of Mia’s head.
Clara dropped her weapon instantly, falling to her knees and begging him to take her instead.
Giorgio laughed, stating that a maid’s life held absolutely no value to him.
He ordered Clara to stand up and walk slowly toward the main grand hall.
Clara tried to soothe Mia, promising her daughter that everything was going to be perfectly fine.
Mia sobbed, gripping Giorgio’s expensive suit jacket with tiny, frightened hands.
They walked into the cavernous hall, which was now filled with half a dozen armed men loyal to Giorgio.
Giorgio shouted into the silence, demanding that his brother show himself if he wanted the child to live.
For a terrible moment, Clara feared that Lorenzo had already escaped in the SUV.
Then, the heavy doors of the dining room opened slowly.
Lorenzo stepped out, walking entirely under his own power despite the agonizing pain it clearly caused him.
He looked at his brother with absolute disgust, appalled that Giorgio would stoop to using a toddler as leverage.
Giorgio sneered, declaring that the Moretti empire belonged to him now, and Lorenzo was obsolete.
He pulled a small digital tablet from his coat and tossed it onto the marble floor at Lorenzo’s feet.
Giorgio demanded that Lorenzo place his thumb on the scanner to transfer the offshore accounts, or the girl would die.
Lorenzo stared at the tablet, knowing that the moment he transferred the money, they would all be slaughtered anyway.
He looked up at Clara, catching her eye for a fraction of a second.
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He slowly bent down to pick up the tablet, pretending to lose his balance.
As Lorenzo dropped to one knee, the lights in the entire estate suddenly went completely black.
