Chapter 2 - THE OBSIDIAN VAULTWithin twenty minutes, I was shoved into the back of a bulletproof black SUV speeding through the rain-slicked streets of downtown Chicago.
We didn't go to a hospital, and we didn't go to a safe house. We pulled straight into the subterranean parking garage of the Obsidian Hotel—the very place where my father’s final message had pointed, and where six weeks ago, I had tripped into Alessandro’s arms.
Alessandro led me past private security checkpoints into a hidden residential penthouse spanning the entire top floor of the tower. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows framed the storm-lit skyline of Lake Michigan, but the opulence felt like a gilded cage.
"You're keeping me prisoner," I said, dropping my duffel bag onto the hardwood floor.
"I'm keeping you alive," Alessandro corrected sharply, turning to face me. He tossed a secure phone onto the coffee table. "Someone tracked you to that diner. Someone knew your real name, Elizabeth. And the moment they realized you were carrying a Vitali heir, they sent a hit squad to your building."
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"And Liam?" I demanded. "Was that your men or theirs?"
Alessandro paused, his jaw clenching. "My men found Liam locked in your basement with a concussion and a warning carved into his shoulder. Whoever is hunting you isn't an outside cartel. It's someone inside my own family trying to sever the line of succession."
