Chapter 10 - The Lockdown
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Alarms began to blare, a deafening, shrill siren that echoed through every corridor of the massive estate. Red emergency lights bathed the nursery in a sinister glow.
"Take Leo," Dante commanded, drawing a heavy, matte-black pistol from his shoulder holster. "Do not leave my side. Do you understand me, Alina? Do not let go of him."
I scooped the crying baby out of his crib, holding him so tightly against my chest I could feel his rapid little heartbeat syncing with my own. "I have him," I promised fiercely.
Dante kicked the nursery door open, leading us out into the chaotic hallway. Guards were shouting, running toward the servant quarters. Dante didn't head for the stairs. He grabbed my arm, pulling me down a narrow, hidden corridor behind a massive oil painting of his ancestors.
We descended a spiraling metal staircase into the pitch-black bowels of the mansion.
"Where are we going?" I gasped, trying to keep up with his long, urgent strides while balancing Leo on my hip.
"The panic room," Dante replied tersely. "It's a reinforced bunker beneath my private office. Marco is sweeping the staff. Whoever poisoned the milk will not live to see the sunset."
He punched a twelve-digit code into a heavy steel vault door. It hissed open, revealing a sterile, brightly lit room stocked with monitors, weapons, and emergency supplies. He shoved us inside and locked the door behind him. The sudden silence in the bunker was deafening.
Dante leaned against the steel door, his chest heaving, his eyes squeezed shut in sheer agony. The invincible mafia king looked entirely broken.
"They almost got him," Dante whispered, his voice cracking. He slid down the door until he was sitting on the cold concrete floor, burying his face in his hands. "I almost lost him, just like I lost Isabella."
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I walked over, kneeling beside the most dangerous man in Boston. I didn't think about the rules. I didn't think about the danger. I just saw a father completely consumed by fear.
I sat down next to him, shifting Leo into one arm, and wrapped my free arm around Dante’s broad shoulders, pulling him against me.
