Chapter 4 - Shadows in the Estate
Elias opened the reinforced steel door of the bunker and stepped into the hallway.
"Stefan," he called out.
The broad-shouldered guard immediately hurried down the corridor. "Sir? Is the interrogation complete?"
"Get a coat from the upper floor," Elias commanded briskly, his authoritative posture restored, though his tone was unusually sharp. "And fetch a female medic from the private clinic. Quietly. No one on the outer perimeter is to know she is still breathing."
Stefan blinked, surprised, but nodded instantly. "Understood, Don Elias."
Elias walked back into the room, taking off his expensive black wool coat and draping it over Seraphina’s shoulders. The heavy fabric smelled of rain, expensive cologne, and cedar wood.
"Cover yourself," he said softly. "You aren't staying in this room."
"Where are you taking me?" Seraphina asked, rising unsteadily to her feet, clutching the coat tight around her body.
"To my personal quarters in the east wing," Elias replied, picking up the fallen file and stuffing it into his jacket. "It is the only part of this fortress not monitored by the central guardhouse."
"Why are you helping me?" she asked, her voice filled with deep suspicion. "You held a gun to my identity twenty minutes ago."
Elias stopped at the threshold, turning his head to look back at her.
"Because my father’s old inner circle still controls forty percent of my security detail," Elias explained grimly. "If Uncle Marco or his captains find out that a surviving Laurent is living under my roof as my son's nanny, they won't just kill you, Seraphina. They will launch a civil war to take the Moretti throne from me."
They walked silently through the subterranean passages, bypassing the main security hubs until they reached a private elevator that ascended straight into the owner's private suite.
When the doors slid open, Seraphina found herself in a sprawling, dark-wood apartment with broad glass windows overlooking the stormy Mediterranean Sea.
In the center of the room, little Leo was sitting on a plush sofa, holding a wooden toy car, refusing to eat the soup set before him.
"Seraphina!" Leo gasped, dropping his toy and running across the hardwood floor, throw his tiny arms around her legs. "You came back! The scary man didn't take you away!"
Seraphina dropped to her knees, burying her face in the child's neck, breathing in the scent of baby powder and fresh soap, her tears finally overflowing.
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Elias stood near the doorway, watching the woman who was supposed to be a threat hold his son with genuine, unconditional love.
For the first time in twenty years, Elias Moretti felt a crack form in his iron heart.
