Chapter 5 - The Bloodline TrapThe next morning, the breakfast table was different.
The boys sat quietly, casting curious, almost respectful glances toward Claire. Word of last night’s hallway incident had clearly traveled through the estate's invisible grapevine. Even Matteo didn't throw his toast.
"Ms. Beaumont," Julian said carefully, poking his scrambled eggs with a fork. "Did you really take down Falcon?"
"Falcon?" Claire blinked. "You mean the guy in the suit who creeps in the dark? Let's just say he has terrible footwork."
A sudden, bright burst of laughter erupted from Leo—the scarred triplet. It was the first time Claire had heard him genuinely laugh, and it transformed his sharp, defensive face into something warm and devastatingly young.
Before Claire could reply, the heavy mahogany front doors rattled violently.
Not a knock. A battering ram.
Dante, who had been sitting at the head of the table reading a tablet, stood up so fast his chair screeched against the floor. His face drained of color, replaced by an absolute, terrifying mask of frozen fury.
"Get the boys to the panic room," Dante ordered, his voice cracking like a whip. "Now!"
"What's happening?" Claire demanded, stepping in front of the triplets.
"Vance," Dante snarled, pulling a heavy-duty submachine gun from a hidden wall panel behind the wainscoting. "My brother. He’s come to finish the bloodline."
Before Claire could process the words, the massive front glass windows of the manor exploded inward in a shower of glittering shards, smoke, and screaming alarms.
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Men in tactical black gear poured into the foyer, weapons raised, led by a man who looked terrifyingly like Dante, save for a cruel, twisted smile and eyes devoid of any human soul.
"Brother!" Vance Rinaldi shouted over the roar of the security alarms. "I told you—what belongs to the Rinaldi name belongs to all of us. And today, the heirs come home to me!"
