Chapter 2 - Whispering Walls
My heart thundered against my ribs. Elena’s family had been wiped out years ago during our war for control of the harbor routes. Or so I believed.
"Vincent, pull the security feed for this corridor," I ordered, my teeth gritted.
"I tried," Vincent said, his voice grim. "The feed went black for precisely four minutes while the guests were arriving. Whoever did this had internal system override access."
We returned to the ballroom, where the atmosphere had dissolved into quiet terror. Guests stood grouped in small, paranoid clusters, eyeing one another with suspicion.
I walked straight to Sophia, who was cradling Lily in her arms near the grand fireplace. The little girl was fast asleep, exhausted by the weight of what she had done.
"Sophia," I said softly, crouching down beside her. "Did Lily say anything else before she ran into the ballroom?"
Sophia’s eyes trembled, glistening with unsphed tears. "She... she said a man with a gold ring gave her a strawberry from the tray and told her to go play near the big metal door. But Mr. Moretti... Lily didn't wander in by accident. She said the man smelled like sweet tobacco."
Sweet tobacco.
May you like
My breath caught in my throat. Only one man in my inner circle smoked custom-blended sweet tobacco.
I turned slowly toward the high-backed leather chairs near the bar, where my half-brother and senior business partner, Julian Moretti, sat calmly sipping a tumbler of scotch.
