Chapter 27

Morning came too fast. Sunlight peered through the estate’s windows, but the warmth did nothing to ease the tension that had settled in the halls. Alessandro walked through the corridors, his polished shoes clicking against the marble, eyes scanning and calculating.

“Where is he?” he muttered under his breath, his voice low, controlled, but the sharp edge beneath it betrayed his irritation.

A guard shifted nervously beside him. “I… I don’t know, sir. He was in his room last night....”

“Last night doesn’t count,” Alessandro snapped, spinning toward him. His dark eyes bored into the man. “I want to know where Lorenzo is right now. Did anyone see him leave?”

The guard swallowed hard. “I… I don’t...he wasn’t on the cameras… maybe he was out… I don’t....”

Alessandro’s hand slammed against the wall, the sound echoing through the hallway. “Don’t stutter at me. He’s gone and that makes this my problem.”

He pivoted sharply and strode toward the study, where the war room monitors were already b