Page 3 of Crimson Reign

Massimo's voice isn't among them.

I pause outside the door, listening for the guard. A floorboard creaks to my right, and I pivot, firing once. The guard drops, his gun clattering to the floor.

One more down. But Massimo isn't here.

I kick open the door.

Massimo isn’t behind it. But someone else is.

Movement catches my eye—a flash of dark hair as someone ducks behind the large leather chair. I train my gun toward the space, finger steady on the trigger.

"Come out. Slowly."

A woman rises, trembling with fear in her amber eyes. She's holding something close to her chest—a child. A little girl with dark curls, no more than two years old, sleeping despite the chaos.

"Please," the woman whispers, her voice steady despite the fear in her eyes. "I need help."

I keep my gun trained on her, assessing. She's beautiful in that natural way. Long dark hair with auburn highlights, olive skin, amber eyes, no makeup. No visible weapons.

"Who are you?" I ask, not lowering my weapon.

"Elena Martinez." She shifts the child slightly. "This is my daughter, Fiona. We're prisoners here."

I've seen women in these situations before. Massimo has a taste for keeping"entertainment"in his compounds. But something about her doesn't fit that profile.

"I'm sorry for your situation," I tell her, already calculating how to extract them safely before I finish my business here. "I'll arrange for you to be kept safe, given a new life away from here."

I turn to leave, needing to track down Massimo, but her next words freeze me in place.

"I have evidence about the Caruso's human trafficking operations." Her voice drops lower. "Evidence that would be valuable to the Bellanti."

Human trafficking. The lowest violation of our code.

I turn back slowly. "How do you know who I am?"

She gestures toward the desk with its newspaper clippings. The newspaper clippings pin every member of my family to the desk, with my photo prominently in the center. Looks like Massimo has been keeping tabs on us.

"I've been their prisoner for three months," she continues. "I know things that could eradicate them."

I step closer, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. "And what do you want in exchange for this information?"

"Protection." Her eyes flick to her sleeping daughter. "For both of us. The Caruso will hunt us down if you don't help. They've already killed my husband."

"What kind of evidence?"

"I have it all on a USB drive. Financial records, locations, names. Everything."

Before I can respond, a noise from the hallway alerts me. I push Elena behind me, raising my weapon just as Roberto Caruso appears in the doorway, his gun already drawn.

Massimo's younger brother. His second in command.

"Well, well," Roberto sneers, his weapon trained on us. "The infamous Matteo Bellanti, breaking into our home. And I see you've met our little accountant and her brat."

Elena stiffens behind me, her breath catching.

Roberto's eyes narrow with cruel amusement. "Did she tell you how her husband died? How we made it look like an accident? The man was too smart for his own good, just like his pretty wife."

His finger tightens on the trigger, but I'm faster. My bullet catches him between the eyes, his body dropping to the floor with a heavy thud.

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