chapter 9:The Traitor Within

MARA’S POV

By eight in the morning, Blackwood Estate had become a military operation.

Guards searched the gardens, servants were questioned, and every vehicle leaving the property was stopped. Dante had ordered the gates sealed until the missing guard, Marcus, was found.

I stood beside the security chief in the surveillance room, studying footage from the previous night.

“Go back,” I ordered.

The technician rewound the recording.

There.

At 11:43 p.m., a figure dressed in black appeared near the eastern gate. He spoke briefly to Marcus before handing him something small.

A phone, perhaps.

Marcus looked around, then unlocked the gate.

Three minutes later, the attackers entered.

My jaw tightened.

“Zoom in.”

The image sharpened just enough to reveal Marcus's face.

But the second man kept his head lowered beneath a hood.

“Can you identify him?” I asked.

“No, ma'am. The camera angle is poor.”

“Then find another camera.”

The technician switched to the next recording.

This time, the figure was visible crossing the courtyard. He walked confidently, avoiding the guards and moving straight towards the servants' passage.

He knew the estate.

He knew the security arrangements.

And he knew exactly where to go.

“Dante needs to see this,” I said.

Before I could leave, the door opened.

Dante entered with two armed men behind him.

“Tell me you found something.”

I stepped aside.

He watched the footage without speaking. When Marcus unlocked the gate, his expression darkened. When the hooded man appeared, he leaned closer to the screen.

“Stop it.”

The technician froze the image.

Dante stared at the figure.

“Impossible.”

“What?” I asked.

He didn't answer immediately.

Instead, he turned to his security chief.

“Bring everyone who worked the eastern perimeter last night into the courtyard. Nobody leaves this estate without my permission.”

The men hurried out.

I folded my arms.

“Who was that man?”

Dante's eyes met mine.

“Someone who should have been dead.”

Before I could demand an explanation, a scream echoed through the corridor.

Sofia.

I ran.

Dante was right behind me.

We found the little girl standing outside her bedroom, trembling. Lia clung to her nightdress, crying into her sister's side.

“What happened?” I asked, dropping to my knees.

Sofia pointed towards the room.

“Someone was inside.”

My hand moved to my weapon.

Dante entered first, his gun raised. I followed, checking the wardrobe, the bathroom, and the space beneath the beds.

Nobody.

Then I noticed the open window.

The curtains fluttered in the morning breeze.

I crossed the room and examined the windowsill. A thin black thread was caught against the frame.

Someone had climbed inside.

Someone had been close enough to the girls to touch them while they slept.

My stomach turned cold.

“Dante.”

He looked over.

I pointed to the window.

His face became frighteningly still.

“Double the guards,” he ordered. “Nobody comes near my daughters without my approval.”

Sofia caught my hand.

“Mara, are they going to take us away?”

I looked down at her frightened face.

“No one is taking you anywhere.”

It was a promise.

And I intended to keep it.

DANTE’S POV

I had enemies in every major city in the country.

Men who wanted my territory. Men who wanted my money. Men who wanted the satisfaction of putting a bullet through my head.

But none of them had ever managed to enter my home and reach my children.

Someone had made that possible.

And I would bury every person involved.

I left Mara with the girls and headed downstairs. My security chief was waiting in the study with a tablet in his hand.

“We found Marcus's vehicle,” he reported. “Abandoned near the old warehouse by the river.”

“Was he inside?”

“No.”

“Blood?”

“A small amount on the driver's seat.”

I picked up my coat.

“Get the cars ready.”

The security chief hesitated. “Sir, we should wait for the men searching the property.”

“No.”

“Dante—”

I looked at him.

He immediately lowered his eyes.

Within fifteen minutes, three black SUVs were speeding towards the river.

Mara was in the passenger seat of mine, loading a magazine into her pistol.

I hadn't invited her.

She had simply appeared beside the car and opened the door.

“You're not going alone,” she had said.

I hadn't argued.

Perhaps I should have.

But I was beginning to understand that telling Mara what she couldn't do was a waste of breath.

The warehouse stood abandoned beneath a grey sky. Rusted metal doors hung from their hinges, and the smell of damp concrete mixed with the stench of the river.

My men spread out.

Mara moved beside me, alert and silent.

Then we heard a noise from inside.

A metallic scrape.

I signalled for my men to take position.

We entered together.

The warehouse was empty except for a wooden chair in the middle of the floor.

Marcus was tied to it.

His face was swollen, his shirt soaked with blood. His head hung forward until he heard our footsteps.

“Boss…”

I approached him.

“Who opened my gate?”

He struggled against his restraints.

“I didn't know who they were. They threatened my family.”

“Who?”

His eyes darted towards Mara, then back to me.

“I'm sorry.”

“Names, Marcus!”

A sharp crack split the air.

My men shouted.

I grabbed Mara and dragged her behind a concrete pillar as bullets tore through the warehouse windows.

An ambush.

“Take cover!” I roared.

My men returned fire....................