Chapter 9
Crawling through the ventilation shaft required absolute silence. Every scrape of fabric against galvanized metal sounded deafening in the enclosed space. Lorenzo led the way, his muscles aching from the tension of the past hour, his mind hyper-focused on a single objective: retrieving Mia and neutralizing the threat inside his own home.
They reached the vertical drop shaft that overlooked the gallery just above the main living room. Lorenzo carefully removed the floor grate, peering down through the small opening into the opulent space below. The crystal chandelier still cast its brilliant light across the polished marble floor, but the atmosphere of the room had fundamentally changed. It was no longer a sanctuary of wealth; it was a tactical command post.
Two of Victor’s armed operatives stood near the main entrance, their assault rifles held at the ready, scanning the perimeter with professional detachment. In the center of the room, sitting on the edge of the large marble table where Lorenzo had been drinking earlier, was Victor himself. And right beside him, standing quietly on the floor, was little Mia. The toddler was holding her yellow dress, looking up at Victor with a mixture of curiosity and slight annoyance at being kept awake past her bedtime.
Lorenzo felt a cold rage build in the pit of his stomach. His fingers tightened around the handle of the concealed pistol he had drawn from his holster.
"She's quiet for a hostage," one of the guards muttered, shifting his weight.
"She's just a kid, she doesn't know what's happening," Victor replied, lighting a cigarette in defiance of the penthouse's strict house rules. He looked down at Mia, crouching slightly to meet her eye level. "Where did your parents go, little one? Did they fly out the window?"
Mia pointed a small finger toward the ceiling, directly at the ventilation grate where Lorenzo and Elena were hidden.
Lorenzo froze. Elena gasped softly behind him, immediately clamping her hand over her mouth to silence the sound.
Down below, Victor’s head snapped upward, his sharp eyes locking onto the dark opening of the ventilation shaft overhead. He didn't hesitate. He drew his pistol instantly, leveling it directly at the ceiling grate as a cold, predatory smile spread across his face.
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"Found you," Victor whispered, the words carrying clearly up through the metal tube.
"Get back!" Lorenzo shouted, shoving Elena backward into the horizontal duct just as a hail of gunfire tore through the metal floor beneath them. Rounds shredded the galvanized steel, sending razor-sharp shrapnel flying through the air.
