TERZO“Son of a bitch. How did he fool us all?” Gio shook his head as he typed something on his phone. “I can do it faster. I’ll create his profile using AI.”“Great idea,” Tristan said. A minute later, Gio showed me an AI image he created. “Close enough. I’m sending it to everyone.”“Tell them not to approach. He is armed and dangerous. Just send his location to us, and we’ll get it from there.” I climbed into the SUV.“I’m sure he was not Ronan. That son of a bitch. I will kill him myself.” Gio joined me, carrying the military-grade rugged laptop.I called Massimo. “Take care of my father, okay? If anyone suspiciously approaches the gate, shoot them. No questions asked. This compound is rigged with tripped wires. You know when someone climbed from the cliff. Call me immediately.” The SUV drove off out of the gate. One more vehicle followed. I knew my father would be safe in the basement. The house was built to withstand calamities, even a nuclear blast, but I was worried that my
TERZO“Old man with an accent?” My stomach dropped. “Are you sure about it?” “I was very convincing. I told him I will have his family taken from his wife to his dog.” Gio shrugged. “Are we thinking the same old man?”“We should have checked him out before we went to Ireland. Fuck.” My hand formed into a fist. “And he followed us here?”“Then who the fuck is he? Why is he doing all this?”I drew a deep breath. I lost focus. I was too eager to help Dani, and I missed the important clues. “Now it made perfect sense. What doesn’t add up is the book. For a caretaker, he knows a lot of things, and of all people, why would Cillian trust him with a book? He even knew the trip to Türkiye. Son of a bitch.” I growled out. My stomach lurched at the thought that Dani was really the target. Violent anger churned inside me as the image of her, so terrified, began to torment me.“He took advantage of Dani’s unrecovered memory. He was probably the one who broke the drawers. He’s good. He made us bel
DANI“So you will let her die for money? You have five seconds to decide, Dani. 100 million dollars or her life?” “I will give you the hundred million dollars right now if I have it, but I don’t.” My chin trembled, and tears streaked down my cheeks.“I know you got your father’s money. One. Two—”“Wait. Wait. I can’t access the account from here. It’s a little complicated, but I can transfer the money from the bank.” I rushed out my words before he could shoot Celestina. “I swear.”“You’re lying. You’re stalling. Your husband is not coming here to rescue you if this is what’s all about. He hasn’t figured it out until now.”“Trust me. I don’t care about money—”Aidan pulled the trigger and shot Celestina. The gunfire jolted me, and my heart thundered in my chest. She screamed. Her arm bled, blood dripping from the wound down to the floor.“Son of a bitch!” I yelled at Aidan, but it didn’t even bother him. I cried in anger and helplessness to stop him from hurting Celestina. “I will fu
DANI“Where are we going?” I asked as Marco hopped into the boat, carrying my suitcase and Celestina’s.“It’s gonna be fine, Dani.” Celestina grabbed Marco’s hand as she hopped in, too. “The less you know, the better.”“You’re next, signora.” Luca assisted me while scanning around as if someone was following us. He then joined us on the boat, leaving only Matteo on the dock.I got into the boat with my limbs shaking. I wished they could tell me more about where we were going and what was going on out there. I was worried about the people we left behind while Celestina and I depended on these three.I knew they were capable, but what if we were outnumbered? What if we got caught by the people who sent an explosive into the compound?Matteo untied the rope, throwing it to the boat, and was about to jump when I saw a familiar face. “Wait!” What was he doing here? I watched Ronan walk in our direction. “We don’t have time, Dani!” Marco said urgently.“Just a minute. I know him.” I point
TERZOI swallowed hard. Rage boiled inside me, mixing with guilt and dread. I shoved it aside and focused on the mission. “I promise, Papa. I will be with them soon.”“This is not done by the Danattis. Arturo called me to say that they want to make peace with us to continue the alliance.”“I don’t trust Danattis anymore, but I have a plan to earn alliances. Trust me, Papa.” I wiped off the dust on his hair and kissed his forehead. “Thank you. Let the doctor take care of you. You’re safe here.”I gripped the doctor’s arm. “Treat them. Don’t worry about the money. If you need more supplies or medicines, inform me. I’ll get them for you.”“Boss.” Gio came to whisper, “I have the footage. Marcelo is on the way to grab the guy.”“Tell Marcelo to check the origin of the parcel. They have the sender’s name, address, and phone number. I want that guy, too.” ***“Talk! I’m not gonna ask again. Who asked you to deliver the package? There’s no record in the courier! You’re not even a courier. I
TERZOI found my father under the debris. Throwing away pieces of wood and broken glass on top of him, I was beyond terrified when he didn’t move. He had cuts and bruises, blood on his forehead, his arms, his nose, and in his ears. I thought I was going to lose him. He must have hit his head from the blast. I was grateful he regained consciousness right away, but what was more terrifying was the words he told me before we got out of the burning house. When Dani asked me, I didn’t know what to tell her— the truth or maybe the truth was too terrifying for her. I didn’t want to frighten her. “I don’t know, Dani. I’ll call you as soon as I get more information. I’m gonna ask someone I trust to do our own investigation.” I kissed her one more time before I walked out of the house.“Let’s go,” I ordered at least seven of my men to follow the ambulance that was carrying my father and Alessio while I rode with Tristan and Gio in a separate vehicle.I was glad Alessio was with my father whe