CHAPTER 4 The Enemy Inside
The Moretti estate went into lockdown in less than ninety seconds.
Steel gates sealed.
Security shutters lowered over the lower-floor windows.
Every vehicle in the underground garage was checked.
Every employee was ordered into the main hall.
Phones were collected.
Security footage was copied.
Doors were locked.
No one entered.
No one left.
And somewhere inside the mansion, someone had managed to place a photograph of Matteo in the room where he had been sleeping.
Sofia stood beside the bed with her arms wrapped around her son and understood something she had spent years trying not to admit.
Dante’s world was terrifying.
But it was not terrifying because of the guns.
Or the guards.
Or the men who obeyed him without question.
It was terrifying because enemies could stand beside you for years wearing familiar faces.
“Mateo needs to leave this room.”
Dante’s voice pulled her back.
Sofia looked at him.
“Where?”
“My private wing.”
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“It’s the most secure part of the estate.”
“You said this house was secure.”
“It was.”
“Apparently not.”
“I am aware.”
His answer came colder than necessary.
Sofia tightened her hold around Matteo.
The boy had sensed the tension and gone unusually quiet.
Dante saw it too.
His expression shifted.
He crouched slightly.
“Matteo.”
The boy looked at him.
“We’re going to another room.”
“Why?”
Dante hesitated.
Sofia watched him struggle again with the impossible task of explaining danger to a child without frightening him.
“Because this room is boring.”
Matteo frowned.
Sofia nearly laughed.
“Boring?”
Dante gave her a look.
She pressed her lips together.
Matteo looked around at the enormous guest room.
“Big bed.”
“Yes.”
“Not boring.”
Dante considered this.
Then said, “My room has a better view.”
Sofia stared at him.
“Your room?”
He ignored her.
Matteo’s interest increased.
“Cars?”
“No.”
“Castle?”
“Yes.”
Sofia sighed.
Dante looked at her.
“Do you have a better suggestion?”
She didn’t.
That irritated her.
Matteo slid from her arms and reached toward Dante.
“Go.”
Dante froze for half a second before lifting him.
Sofia noticed.
Every time Matteo chose him, Dante reacted as though someone had placed something precious into his hands and trusted him not to break it.
That reaction was becoming harder to ignore.
They moved through the hallway surrounded by security.
Luca walked ahead while two guards followed behind.
The mansion no longer felt like a home.
It felt like a fortress under siege.
Sofia had visited the Moretti estate many times before the wedding.
She remembered dinners in the formal dining room.
Christmas receptions.
Political fundraisers disguised as charity galas.
Dante’s father standing beneath the enormous chandelier while powerful men laughed too loudly at his jokes.
She remembered slipping onto the balcony whenever the conversations became unbearable.
Dante often found her there.
He always pretended it was coincidence.
She had never believed him.
Now every corridor looked different.
Cameras.
Hidden doors.
Armed guards.
Security panels.
She wondered how much she had simply failed to see before.
Or how much Dante had deliberately kept hidden from her.
They entered a private elevator.
Dante pressed his thumb against a scanner.
The doors closed.
Sofia looked at the panel.
There were no floor numbers.
Only three buttons.
“That’s normal.”
Dante glanced at her.
“What?”
“Secret elevator. Biometric lock. No labels.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I’m reconsidering my definition of normal.”
Matteo touched the mirrored wall.
“Shiny.”
Dante nodded.
“Very.”
Sofia looked away to hide a smile.
The elevator opened into a quieter section of the mansion.
Dante’s private floor.
She had been there once.
Only once.
The night before they became engaged.
Not in his bedroom.
In his study.
He had poured her whiskey she did not want and asked whether she was afraid of marrying him.
She had lied and said no.
He had lied and said it was only business.
Both of them had been terrible liars.
Dante carried Matteo into a large sitting room.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the gardens and distant city skyline.
Dark wood.
Leather.
Minimal furniture.
Everything severe.
Everything Dante.
Matteo looked around.
“No toys.”
Dante looked at Sofia.
She raised an eyebrow.
“He has a point.”
“I wasn’t expecting a child.”
“That is becoming a recurring excuse.”
Dante stared at her.
Then spoke to one of the guards.
“Have toys brought up.”
“What kind?”
Dante looked at Matteo.
The boy held up his blue car.
“Cars.”
The guard nodded.
“And blocks,” Sofia added.
Dante looked at her.
“And books.”
“Books too.”
“Drawing supplies.”
Dante sighed.
“Bring the entire children’s department.”
Sofia smiled.
This time, Dante saw it.
His eyes lingered.
Too long.
The smile faded from her lips.
Something shifted between them.
Something warm.
Dangerously familiar.
Luca entered before either could speak.
“We have the first security report.”
Dante turned immediately.
“Go.”
“No breach at the perimeter.”
“Meaning?”
“Whoever put the envelope in the room was already inside.”
Sofia’s stomach tightened.
Dante’s expression did not change.
“How many people had access to that floor?”
“Twenty-three.”
“Names.”
“Security is compiling.”
“Anyone near the guest room?”
“Camera went offline for four minutes.”
Dante’s gaze sharpened.
“When?”
“Seven minutes before Sofia noticed the envelope.”
“Technical failure?”
“No.”
“Deliberate.”
“Yes.”
Sofia looked at Luca.
“Can you see who disabled it?”
“We’re tracing access.”
“How many people can access the camera system?”
“Five.”
Dante’s voice became quiet.
“Bring all five.”
Luca nodded.
Sofia looked at Matteo.
He was now trying to climb onto the sofa.
She moved toward him.
Dante spoke behind her.
“Luca.”
“Boss.”
“No one questions staff within earshot of Sofia or Matteo.”
Sofia turned.
He noticed.
“What?”
“You think I can’t handle hearing it?”
“I think he shouldn’t.”
His eyes shifted toward Matteo.
Sofia softened.
“You’re right.”
Dante’s gaze stayed on her.
The simple agreement seemed to surprise him.
Perhaps they had spent too many years expecting every conversation to become a battle.
Luca left.
Dante walked toward a locked cabinet.
He opened it and removed a handgun.
Sofia immediately tensed.
“Seriously?”
He checked the magazine.
“Yes.”
“There are already guards everywhere.”
“I trust myself more.”
“That is not comforting.”
“It isn’t supposed to be.”
He placed the weapon inside a concealed holster beneath his jacket.
Matteo noticed.
“What that?”
Sofia’s heart stopped.
Dante looked down.
“Nothing.”
Matteo pointed.
“What?”
Sofia stepped in.
“It’s something adults use for work.”
Dante gave her a look.
She returned it.
Do not argue.
He understood.
Matteo lost interest and climbed onto the sofa.
Sofia lowered her voice.
“You cannot leave guns where he can reach them.”
“I won’t.”
“You need locks.”
“I have locks.”
“On everything.”
“Yes.”
“Ammo separate.”
Dante raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve researched this.”
“I’m a mother.”
The words landed differently now.
Dante looked at her.
Sofia immediately felt the weight of what she had said.
Three years.
Every decision.
Every fear.
Every lesson learned alone.
He nodded once.
“Anything else?”
She hesitated.
“Pool alarms.”
“Done.”
“Stairs.”
“Gates.”
“Kitchen.”
“Locked knives.”
“Balcony doors.”
“Restricted.”
She stared.
“You’ve already thought about this?”
“I started the moment I knew he was mine.”
Her chest tightened.
Dante’s voice remained calm.
“I had Luca order childproofing while we were driving back.”
Sofia did not know what to say.
She had expected possession.
Control.
Demands.
She had not expected outlet covers and pool alarms.
“You really did.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Dante looked at her as if the answer were obvious.
“Because he’s my son.”
She looked away.
That sentence should not affect her anymore.
But it did.
A guard entered carrying several boxes.
Within minutes, Matteo was surrounded by toy cars, wooden blocks, books, crayons, and enough stuffed animals to fill a nursery.
Sofia stared.
“You bought the store.”
Dante glanced at the pile.
“I said bring toys.”
“This is not toys. This is inventory.”
Matteo picked up a large red sports car and gasped.
Dante looked satisfied.
Sofia noticed.
“You’re going to spoil him.”
“I’ve missed nearly three years.”
“That is not a parenting strategy.”
“It’s a temporary policy.”
She crossed her arms.
“No.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“No?”
“No excessive gifts.”
“It’s one afternoon.”
“There are thirty toys.”
“Twenty-seven.”
She stared.
“You counted?”
“Of course.”
Sofia laughed.
Dante went still.
Not because the laugh was unusual.
Because he had caused it.
Her laughter faded.
The air changed again.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“You know.”
“I don’t.”
“Dante.”
His mouth almost curved.
There he was.
The man beneath the Don.
The one Sofia had once loved.
She turned away quickly.
“Where will Matteo sleep?”
Dante answered immediately.
“Here.”
“In your room?”
“In this wing.”
“Where?”
He pointed toward a door.
“Guest suite.”
“And me?”
Another pause.
“Same suite.”
“Good.”
His expression revealed nothing.
Too little.
Sofia narrowed her eyes.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You were about to say something.”
“No.”
“You were.”
Dante walked toward the bar.
“You’re imagining things.”
“Three years did not make you better at lying.”
He poured water.
Not whiskey.
She noticed.
“For someone who ran away from me, you remember a great deal.”
The words stung less this time.
Perhaps because his tone held no accusation.
Only truth.
Before she could answer, Luca returned.
His expression was grim.
Dante put down the glass.
“What?”
“We identified who accessed the camera system.”
“Who?”
Luca hesitated.
Sofia saw the hesitation.
Bad.
“It was done with your mother’s credentials.”
Silence.
Dante did not move.
Sofia frowned.
“His mother?”
Luca looked at her.
“Her credentials were never deleted.”
Dante’s voice went flat.
“My mother has been dead seven years.”
“I know.”
“Then someone used an archived account.”
“Yes.”
“Who had access?”
“Three people.”
“Names.”
Luca looked at him.