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Chapter 3

Over the next two weeks, the rigid silence of the Moretti estate began to fray at the edges. Antonio found himself pausing outside hallways, listening for the soft patter of tiny sneakers or the melodic hum of a nursery rhyme that didn’t belong in a house built on blood and debts.

Damen noticed the shift immediately during a late-night briefing in the study.

“You’ve got a civilian running around the halls, Antonio,” Damen warned, leaning against the mahogany desk. “Word travels. The Costa syndicate smells blood if they think you’re getting soft.”

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“Let them think whatever keeps them awake at night,” Antonio replied coldly, sliding a Beretta into his shoulder holster.

Unknown to both men, Mia had wandered away from her mother’s supervision that afternoon. Following a trail of glittering dust motes down the grand corridor, her small fingers traced the intricate wallpaper of the fourth floor—a zone strictly forbidden to every living soul.

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