Chapter 2 - The first instinct Elena had was to reach for Dante.His hand found hers before she could move.
“Don't move.”
The ballroom descended into chaos.
People screamed.
Chairs scraped across the floor.
Glass shattered.
Someone knocked over a table.
Security shouted contradictory orders.
“Get down!”
“Stay where you are!”
“Everyone remain calm!”
Another shot rang out.
This one closer.
Elena flinched.
Dante pulled her behind a marble column.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Stay here.”
“You're not going anywhere alone.”
His eyes met hers.
Even in the darkness, Elena could see the controlled fury in them.
“I'll be back.”
She tightened her grip.
“Dante.”
He paused.
Something passed between them.
A promise.
Then he disappeared.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Dim red strips along the walls illuminated frightened faces.
Mara crawled toward Elena.
“Where's Dante?”
“Looking for whoever fired.”
Mara stared toward the stage.
“The USB.”
Elena remembered.
The evidence.
She turned.
The napkin lay on the floor.
Empty.
The USB was gone.
Elena's pulse accelerated.
Someone had taken it during the blackout.
She stood.
Julian was missing.
So was Camille.
“Elena.”
Mara grabbed her sleeve.
“Look.”
She pointed toward the side corridor.
A trail of blood marked the marble floor.
Small drops.
Leading away from the ballroom.
Elena followed them.
She knew she shouldn't.
She followed anyway.
The corridor was empty.
A service elevator stood open.
Inside, a smear of blood crossed the metal wall.
Something was lying on the floor.
Elena bent down.
Camille's bracelet.
She picked it up.
Then the elevator doors slammed shut.
Elena jumped back.
Dante appeared at the end of the corridor.
“Elena!”
He ran toward her.
“Where were you?”
“She left this.”
He took the bracelet.
“Camille?”
“I think she's hurt.”
A sound came from the stairwell.
They turned.
A figure ran downward.
Dante chased.
Elena followed.
Three floors.
Two.
One.
They emerged into the hotel's underground parking garage.
The attacker was already getting into a black SUV.
Dante pulled his gun.
“Stop!”
The SUV accelerated.
Dante fired at the tires.
The vehicle swerved.
Then disappeared through the exit.
Dante lowered his weapon.
Elena approached.
“You know him.”
Dante looked at her.
“What?”
“The way you reacted.”
“I was trying to stop a killer.”
“You knew exactly where to aim.”
He didn't answer.
That was enough to terrify her.
“Dante.”
He looked away.
“Elena, tonight isn't about business anymore.”
“Then what is it about?”
“My past.”
She stared at him.
“What does your past have to do with me?”
Before he could answer, a car alarm started screaming.
A second vehicle had been triggered.
Mara came running toward them.
“Elena!”
“What?”
“Julian is gone.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't understand.”
Mara held up her phone.
“He wasn't the only one.”
She showed Elena a security recording.
The hallway camera had captured someone entering the gala one hour before the blackout.
A woman.
Dark hair.
Black dress.
Walking directly toward Elena's private presentation room.
Elena stared at the screen.
She recognized the woman.
Her stomach dropped.
“No.”
Mara whispered, “You know her?”
Elena couldn't speak.
The woman in the recording was her mother.
Claire Hart.
Dead for eleven years.
Dante looked at the screen.
Then at Elena.
“That isn't possible.”
Elena's fingers trembled.
The timestamp appeared at the bottom.
Tonight. 8:14 P.M.
Elena stared at the face she had mourned since she was nine years old.
Then her phone vibrated again.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
YOUR MOTHER DIDN'T DIE IN THAT ACCIDENT.
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Another message followed.
AND SHE KNOWS WHAT DANTE DID.
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