Page 5 of Roberto

That explained the two gunshotsI’d heard.

Not only that, it destroyed any chance of a refund. The small print in the contract clearly stated that the glass wasn’t guaranteed to withstand multiple rounds.

Still, I wanted to return to my office, so I continued to argue. “I’m not in any danger; Lars is out there chasing them down right now. And I’ll stay away from the window – ”

“No. Your safety is too important.”

“Valentino is running around playing action hero with your blessing. Are you reallygoing to suggest I’m inmoredanger behind bulletproof glass?”

Niccolo’s expression turned sour. “Don’tyoustart bitching at me, too.”

“Then let me go do my job.”

He sighed. “Fine. But take two foot soldiers with you – and be careful.”

“You know I’m the most careful out ofallof us.”

Niccolo gave me a half-smile. “True.”

I immediately left the safe room to go do what I could to save Massimo.

5

Fortunately, I got my insurance representative on the phone right away.

Unfortunately, he was an unhelpful son of a bitch.

“What do you meanit’s not covered?!” I snarled.

“The ‘Acts of War and Terrorism’ rider doesn’t cover sabotage, sir.”

“It wasn’t ‘sabotage’ – it was a rocket-propelled grenade! You know, the kind used in WARFARE?!”

“It’s not about the object that caused the damage, sir, it’s the context in which it was used. And unless it occurred in an active war zone – ”

“It was carried out by Russian mercenaries! Hired soldiers! As in, ‘people who fight in WARS’!”

“Unless it occurred in an active war zone, sir, it’s not covered.”

“Do terrorists have to be in an ‘active terrorism zone’ for it to be covered?” I asked sarcastically.

“Unless we get confirmation from an approved intelligence agency that a terrorist group was behind the attempt, it’s not covered under terrorism, either, sir.”

Fucking unbelievable –

“Hold on,” I growled as I typed in the password on my computer, “I’m going to bring up the policy and – ”

As soon as the computer’s lock screen disappeared, I saw the online bank account that had been open before I rushed off to the safe room.

The balance, which was 2.3 million euros just 10 minutes ago –

Was now a few thousand.

I stared at the screen in shock.

“Sir?”the representative asked.“Are you there?”

“…I’m going to have to call you back,” I muttered, then hung up the phone.

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