All Chapters of His Arranged Protection: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

~~NICCOLÒ~~ There were only a few people who knew about what had happened back then. My mind immediately went to my father. If he was involved in this somehow, things could become ugly for the entire Santoro operation very quickly. I closed the file in front of me and leaned back in my chair, studying Matteo carefully. "Do we have any leads at all?" I asked. Matteo exhaled quietly and shook his head. "None that I trust." "None?" I repeated. "You're telling me an organization is moving illegal cargo through our ports, renting warehouses across the city, transporting industrial refrigeration units, and nobody has seen anything useful?" Matteo folded his arms across his chest. "I'm telling you exactly that." I frowned. "That doesn't happen." "I know." "No," I said, sitting forward. "You don't understand. It doesn't happen. Somebody always talks. Somebody always makes a mistake." Matteo shrugged. "These people haven't." I tapped my fingers against the desk. "What about the po

~~LENA~~ The moment I stepped into Niccolò's operation room, I deliberately arranged my face into the most harmless expression I could manage. Wide eyes, relaxed shoulders and an innocent smile. I had practiced this look before. It rarely worked on him. But still, there was no harm in trying. The room itself immediately caught my attention. Large monitors covered one entire wall, displaying security feeds, maps, and information I couldn't fully make out from where I stood. The atmosphere inside was tense and focused, and my sudden entrance had clearly interrupted something important. He had stopped what he was doing. Including the guard I had spoken to earlier. Poor man. Enzo looked caught somewhere between annoyance, panic, and complete helplessness. I almost felt bad for him. The guards outside had followed me in, both looking deeply uncomfortable. And I knew exactly why. Rumors traveled quickly inside this house, especially among security personnel. Despite the fact that

~~LENA~~For a brief moment, as my fingers wrapped around the cold metal handle of locker forty-seven, I genuinely thought I was about to discover something shocking.My imagination, unfortunately, chose that exact moment to become extremely creative."What if it's a bomb?" I muttered under my breath.I immediately frowned. "No, that's ridiculous."Then another possibility appeared. "What if it's some kind of gas trap?"I took an involuntary step backward. "Or a tranquilizer dart."That one made me pause.Honestly, considering the kind of people I seemed to attract lately, a hidden tranquilizer did not feel completely impossible. I could already picture it.I would open the locker and something would shoot out. Then next, I would wake up tied to another chair while strange people asked me to spy on my husband again.I groaned. "If

~~LENA~~The last thing I had expected when I opened that locker was a gunshot.One second, I was staring at the old photograph in my hands, trying to understand why a young Niccolò was standing beside my mother. The next second, an explosive sound ripped through the abandoned hallway.The locker door beside me practically exploded and metal shards flew everywhere.I screamed and threw myself to the ground instinctively, covering my head as pieces of twisted metal scattered across the floor. Something sharp sliced across my forearm and cheek, and I hissed in pain."What the hell?"My heart slammed painfully against my chest. For several seconds, I couldn't breathe. Another fragment struck the wall behind me."Oh my God!"I scrambled backward on shaking limbs, pressing myself against the filthy floor. Someone had actually shot at me."This can't be happening," I whispered frantically.My entire body shook as I stared at the ruined locker. The photograph had fallen somewhere nearby. The

~~NICCOLÒ~~I watched her expression carefully the moment I asked for the photograph. For the briefest second, shock, panic, and calculation crossed her face.I knew that look. Lena was deciding whether to deny its existence.Unfortunately for her, I had spent enough time around her to recognize exactly what she was about to do. I leaned back slightly against the desk and folded my arms across my chest."Don't," I said calmly.She blinked. "Don't what?""Don't lie to me."Her lips parted. "I wasn't going to—""You were.""No, I wasn't.""You absolutely were."She stared at me for a long moment before crossing her arms defensively. "You're impossible.""I've been called worse.""Liar."I ignored that."The picture, Lena."She hesitated, and I could practically see her debating whether she should continue pretending. Finally, she sighed."How did you know about it?"I raised an eyebrow. "You really want to ask me that?""Yes.""Matteo was there."Her eyes widened. "What?"I nodded once.