Chapter 9 - Home Under SiegeThe flight back to Chicago lasted ten hours.
It felt like ten years.
Marcus made calls almost continuously.
Teresa did not answer.
Neither did two guards assigned to the penthouse.
The building’s security system had gone offline forty-seven minutes before Dante’s call.
Marcus’s family home outside the city had also lost surveillance.
My parents were moved immediately to a secure location.
My sister was collected from campus by six armed guards who frightened half the university.
But Teresa—
Nothing.
I sat opposite Marcus on the jet.
He had not moved for twenty minutes.
His phone rested in his hand.
No calls.
No messages.
No information.
That frightened me more than his rage.
“Marcus.”
He looked at me.
“She’s alive.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“Because Dante wants something.”
His voice was cold.
“He doesn’t kill leverage before negotiations.”
Lorenzo sat farther down the cabin.
Alessandro worked beside him, analyzing every contact connected to Carrington.
The ledger remained locked in the jet’s secure compartment.
“What does he want?” I asked.
“The ledger.”
“You won’t give it to him.”
Marcus looked toward the window.
“I will if Teresa’s life depends on it.”
That answer did not surprise me.
Three months ago, I might not have understood.
Now I did.
Teresa had raised Marcus after Sofia died.
She was family.
“She wouldn’t want you to.”
“I don’t care.”
“I know.”
His gaze returned to me.
Something exhausted lived there.
“I keep telling myself I can protect everyone.”
“You cannot.”
His jaw tightened.
“That wasn’t helpful.”
“It’s true.”
“I don’t want truth right now.”
“Too bad. You married me under an honesty agreement.”
That almost earned a smile.
Almost.
I moved into the seat beside him.
“You can protect people without controlling every outcome.”
“That sounds like something a therapist would say.”
“You should meet one.”
“I have enemies who would kidnap the therapist.”
“Then find one with excellent security.”
He exhaled.
I put my head against his shoulder.
“We get Teresa back.”
His hand covered mine.
“Yes.”
When we landed, snow had begun falling across Chicago.
The city looked exactly as it had the night everything between Marcus and me changed.
Cold.
Beautiful.
Dangerous.
The motorcade drove directly to Valentino Tower.
Police vehicles surrounded the street.
Marcus swore.
“What?”
“Police should not be here.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t call them.”
Alessandro checked his phone.
“Building management did. Smoke alarm on the forty-seventh floor.”
“The penthouse?”
“No. Two floors below.”
Marcus stared upward.
“It’s a diversion.”
Our vehicles stopped in the underground garage.
Marcus would not let me exit until security cleared three levels.
Lorenzo looked increasingly amused by his protectiveness.
Marcus noticed.
“You find something funny?”
“You’re worse than I was.”
“I’m nothing like you.”
Lorenzo smiled.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
The elevator reached the penthouse.
Doors opened.
Destruction.
Furniture overturned.
Glass shattered.
Paintings ripped from walls.
The place where I had once felt like a ghost now looked violated.
Marcus stepped out.
His face changed.
I followed.
My tea cup lay broken near the kitchen.
The old window seat where I had spent countless lonely nights had been slashed open.
Marcus walked slowly toward the living room.
A message had been painted across the wall.
BRING BACK WHAT SOFIA STOLE.
Lorenzo stopped behind us.
“This isn’t Dante.”
Marcus stared.
“How do you know?”
“He wouldn’t invoke Sofia.”
“Unless he wants us to think exactly that.”
Alessandro appeared from the hallway.
“Found something.”
Teresa’s room.
We rushed there.
Empty.
Bed overturned.
A black envelope rested on the pillow.
Marcus opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Teresa seated in a chair.
Alive.
Angry.
Very angry.
Even kidnapped, Teresa somehow looked disappointed in her captors.
I almost laughed from relief.
Marcus touched the photograph.
“She’s alive.”
Behind it was an address.
An abandoned railway facility south of the city.
And a time.
Midnight.
Ledger for woman.
No police.
No tricks.
Marcus checked the clock.
8:17 p.m.
“We have less than four hours.”
Alessandro nodded.
“We can position teams around the facility.”
“No.”
Marcus stared at the photograph.
“They expect that.”
Lorenzo took the note.
“This phrasing.”
“What?”
“Ledger for woman.”
“Yes.”
“Dante would say Teresa’s name. He knows who she is.”
Marcus looked at him.
“So?”
“The Riccis call people by function when they don’t respect them. Woman. Boy. Wife.”
His eyes hardened.
“This is Ricci.”
“Then where is Dante?”
“Playing both sides.”
I thought about the call.
He had never actually said he had Teresa.
Only that Marcus had forgotten Chicago.
“He wanted us to assume.”
Marcus looked at me.
“Yes.”
“He gave the Riccis information in Sicily and warned you about Chicago because…”
“He wants us to destroy each other.”
Lorenzo finished the thought.
“And then take the ledger from whoever survives.”
Marcus’s expression became almost approving.
“Finally. Something intelligent from a Carrington.”
His phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
DANTE: You figured it out faster than your father did.
Marcus typed.
MARCUS: Which father?
Three dots appeared.
Then vanished.
I looked at him.
“That was dramatic.”
“I enjoyed it.”
Another message came.
DANTE: Midnight is a trap.
MARCUS: Obviously.
DANTE: They’ll kill the old woman whether you bring the ledger or not.
Marcus’s eyes became cold.
MARCUS: Why tell me?
The reply took longer.
DANTE: Because I want the Riccis gone too.
Lorenzo read over his shoulder.
“Convenient.”
Another message.
DANTE: The ledger contains evidence that destroys my family as well. I need specific pages before you burn everything down.
Marcus laughed.
“He wants a trade.”
I looked at him.
“Could the pages matter?”
“Yes.”
“What if giving him those pages saves Teresa?”
Marcus studied me.
“You’re suggesting negotiation.”
“I’m suggesting we use everyone’s greed against them.”
Lorenzo smiled.
“She really is your wife.”
Marcus glared.
“Stop enjoying this.”
We built a plan.
At eleven fifty-eight, Marcus and I entered the abandoned rail facility.
Yes.
I went.
The argument lasted twenty-six minutes.
Marcus lost.
Technically, we compromised.
I wore body armor beneath a black coat and a tracker in my boot, necklace, watch, and apparently one tooth, though I suspected he was joking about the tooth.
Lorenzo and Alessandro positioned teams outside.
Marcus carried a duplicate case.
Inside were copies of the ledger documents.
Not originals.
The warehouse smelled of rust and cold concrete.
One hanging light illuminated the center.
Teresa sat beneath it.
Her wrists were tied.
When she saw Marcus, she looked furious.
Not frightened.
Furious.
“Marcus Valentino!”
Her voice echoed.
He actually flinched.
I whispered, “Told you.”
“This is not the time.”
“Three hours!” Teresa shouted. “Three hours I have been sitting here because your security team allowed idiots into your home!”
A man stepped from the shadows.
“Quiet.”
Teresa turned on him.
“I will be quiet when I decide.”
I loved her.
Marcus’s eyes swept the warehouse.
Twelve visible men.
Probably more hidden.
A tall man approached.
Silver hair.
Elegant coat.
Lorenzo’s age.
“Marcus Valentino.”
“Ricci.”
The man smiled.
“Vittorio Ricci.”
Marcus lifted the case.
“You want this?”
Vittorio’s eyes followed it.
“Your mother caused many problems.”
“Speak about my mother again and negotiations end.”
Vittorio raised his hands.
“Emotional. Like Lorenzo.”
Marcus smiled coldly.
“You have no idea.”
“Bring the case.”
“Release Teresa.”
“No.”
“Then we leave.”
Vittorio laughed.
“You think you’re in a position to negotiate?”
“Yes.”
Marcus pressed something in his pocket.
Every light in the building went out.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Vittorio shouted.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Marcus threw me behind a concrete pillar.
“Stay!”
He moved toward Teresa.
Men rushed from the shadows.
But Alessandro’s teams had already breached the facility from three directions.
Chaos exploded.
I saw Marcus reach Teresa.
Saw him cut her hands free.
Then Vittorio appeared behind him with a weapon.
“Marcus!”
He turned.
Too late.
A gunshot cracked.
I screamed.
Vittorio fell.
Marcus remained standing.
Behind him, Teresa held a small pistol.
She stared at the weapon.
Then at Vittorio.
Then at Marcus.
“I told you,” she said angrily, “I am not helpless.”
Marcus looked stunned.
Teresa slapped his shoulder.
“Three hours!”
Marcus pulled her into his arms.
Her anger disappeared.
She hugged him back.
For one moment, the entire battle seemed to fall away.
Then another shot came from the upper walkway.
The bullet struck the concrete beside me.
Marcus turned.
“Arya!”
I ducked.
A man ran along the catwalk.
Alessandro fired.
Missed.
The man disappeared through a side door.
Lorenzo’s voice came over the radio.
“Runner headed east!”
Marcus looked from me to Teresa.
“Stay with them.”
Then he ran.
“Marcus!”
Too late.
Lorenzo chased from outside.
I watched security follow.
Five minutes passed.
Ten.
Then Alessandro’s radio crackled.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
“Boss?”
Nothing.
“Boss, respond.”
Static.
Then Lorenzo’s voice.
“They took him.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
May you like
Alessandro stared at me.
“Marcus is gone.”
