Chapter 2 - The Serpent in the Garden"Are you sure, Lily?" I asked, keeping my voice as calm and steady as possible while every alarm bell in my brain screamed for attention. "Did you actually see him, or was it just a shadow from the trees?"
"It wasn't a shadow," Lily insisted, her grip on my fingers tightening with surprising strength for someone who had undergone major surgery only hours ago. "He had the snake on his neck. The same man who chased me into the woods behind the summer house before I ran into the street."
I gently tucked a stray blonde curl behind her ear. "Try to close your eyes, little bird. I'm going to go check on something. I'll be right outside the door the whole time. I promise."
She hesitated, her big, frightened eyes searching my face before she finally nodded and let go. "Don't leave the house, Noah."
"Never."
When I stepped out into the hallway, Dominic was gone, but two armed guards stood stationed on either side of the medical wing doors. Their submachine guns were held at low-ready, their expressions carved from stone.
"Report," I said, adopting a tone of authority I certainly didn't feel.
The guard on the left—a burly man with a jagged scar running down his jaw whom I recognized as Viktor, Dominic’s head of security—scowled down at me. "Nothing to report, Mr. Hayes. The perimeter is secure. Sector four cameras show nothing."
"My room overlooks the west garden," I said sharply. "Lily just told me she saw an intruder out there with a snake tattoo on his neck. A man who was part of the group that hunted her."
Viktor’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "The little girl is recovering from trauma and heavy anesthesia, Mr. Hayes. Hallucinations are common. Don Rosetti is handling security. Go back inside."
"Check the damn cameras again, Viktor," I snarled, stepping into his personal space, abandoning all fear. "Or I'll walk down to Dominic’s study right now and tell him his head of security is too lazy to look at a monitor."
Something in my expression—or perhaps the sheer desperation of a man who had nothing left to lose—made Viktor hesitate. He muttered a curse under his breath, tapped his earpiece, and spoke in a rapid, hushed code to the control room.
"Sweep the west garden sector," Viktor commanded into his radio. "Now. Perimeter team alpha, check the rose arbor."
Ten agonizing seconds passed. The silence in the hallway was deafening, broken only by the faint hum of the HVAC system.
Then, static crackled over Viktor's earpiece.
"Alpha team to command. We found something by the greenhouse. A discarded cigarette—still burning. And... boss, you need to see this."
Viktor’s face drained of color. He looked at me, all condescension vanishing, replaced by cold, sharp realization. "Get back inside the room," he ordered, unholstering his sidearm. "Lock the door. Do not open it for anyone except me or the Don."
He sprinted down the corridor, followed by his second-in-command, their heavy boots echoing against the marble floor.
I didn't go back into the room. Instead, I pressed myself against the wall next to the doorway, my mind racing. A burning cigarette in a secure, patrolled zone meant one terrifying thing: The intruder wasn't just outside. He was already inside the inner perimeter. And worse—he had left a calling card.
Five minutes later, heavy footsteps approached from the opposite end of the hall. Dominic was walking swiftly toward me, his coat discarded, his sleeves still rolled up, holding a small, blood-stained silver pin shaped like a coiled viper.
"You were right," Dominic said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. "The perimeter sensors were scrambled by a localized EMP device. Someone bypassed our primary grid using internal access codes."
"Internal access codes?" I repeated, my stomach dropping. "You mean... someone on your payroll?"
Dominic didn't answer immediately. He stared at the viper pin in his palm, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fist.
"There are only five people in this entire estate who possess the master override keys to the west sector," Dominic said slowly, lifting his dark gaze to meet mine. "You, me, Viktor, Elena... and my chief financial officer, Marcus Vance."
The lights in the medical wing suddenly flickered and died.
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Emergency red backup lights clicked on, casting long, eerie crimson shadows across the hallway. From somewhere deep within the mansion's lower levels, a muffled explosion shook the floor beneath our feet.
"They're not trying to kidnap her anymore," Dominic whispered, drawing a suppressed 9mm pistol from his shoulder holster with terrifying fluidity. "They're here to burn the house down."
