Chapter 13 - The Venetian Masquerade of Death
The alarm began to wail,
a high-pitched scream that cut through the music of the gala below.
I grabbed the flash drive,
even though the download wasn't complete,
and bolted for the hidden door.
But it wouldn't open.
I was trapped in a room of cold steel and humming wires.
"The door is reinforced,
my dear,"
Pierce’s voice echoed.
"And the air in that room is being pumped out as we speak."
"You have three minutes before your lungs collapse."
"Why?"
I shouted,
looking for a vent,
a pipe,
anything.
"Why all this effort for a maid?"
"Because you’re not a maid,"
Pierce said.
"You’re the variable we didn't account for."
"The audit you’re looking at...
it isn't just about money."
"It’s about bloodlines."
"The Russo empire doesn't belong to Victor or Sofia."
"It belongs to the one who can prove they are the true heir."
"And your daughter,
Claire..."
"Emily isn't just your daughter."
"She’s the result of a night Victor doesn't even remember."
The walls seemed to close in on me,
not because of the oxygen,
but because of the truth.
Emily.
Victor’s daughter.
The 'maid's little girl' was the princess of the empire.
That was why they tried to kill her.
That was why the labels were crooked.
They needed to eliminate the bloodline to seize the assets.
I felt my vision start to blur as the oxygen levels dropped.
I slumped against the server rack,
clutching the flash drive to my chest.
Suddenly,
the wall behind the servers exploded.
Brick and mortar flew through the air,
and a figure silhouetted in smoke stepped through the hole.
It was Marco.
He was wearing tactical gear and holding a sledgehammer.
"You’re late,"
I wheezed,
collapsing into his arms.
"The party just started,"
he grunted,
hauling me through the breach.
"Victor is holding the ballroom."
"We have to move."
We ran through the back corridors of the palazzo,
the sound of gunfire erupting from the gala below.
"He knows,"
I told Marco as we descended the service stairs.
"Pierce is here."
"And he knows about Emily."
Marco’s face hardened.
"We all know,
Claire."
"Why do you think Victor kept you in the house?"
"Why do you think he paid for your mother’s care?"
"He’s known since the day you walked into his office three years ago."
"He was waiting for the Syndicate to show their hand."
"He used you as bait."
I stopped in my tracks,
the betrayal cutting deeper than any bullet.
"He used me?"
"He used his own daughter as bait?"
"He kept us safe,"
Marco said,
grabbing my arm and pulling me forward.
"In the only way he knew how."
"By keeping you close."
"But now the game is over."
"Sofia has called in the mercenaries."
"The Palazzo is a kill zone."
We reached the balcony overlooking the ballroom.
It was a scene from a nightmare.
The aristocrats were screaming,
diving under tables,
as men in black masks descended from the skylights.
Victor was in the center of the room,
behind an overturned marble table,
his gun barking as he held off the assault.
"Victor!"
I screamed.
He looked up,
his eyes meeting mine across the chaos.
"Get her out of here,
Marco!"
he roared.
"Take the drive and the girl!"
But I wasn't going to run.
Not this time.
I looked at the black diamond necklace around my neck.
The transmitter.
I remembered what Victor said—
it was a high-frequency device.
I ripped it from my neck and threw it into the massive Murano chandelier hanging over the mercenaries.
"Marco,
the drive!"
I shouted,
pointing to the wireless relay on his belt.
"Sync the frequency!"
Marco understood instantly.
He keyed his radio to the frequency of the necklace.
The feedback loop hit the chandelier's electronic ballast.
A second later,
the massive glass structure exploded in a shower of sparks and crystal.
The mercenaries were buried under a ton of falling glass.
In the confusion,
Victor made his move.
He charged through the smoke,
his eyes fixed on Sofia,
who was trying to slip through a side exit.
"Sofia!"
he yelled.
She turned,
a small derringer in her hand.
But she wasn't looking at Victor.
She was looking at me.
"The maid,"
she hissed.
May you like
"The little auditor who ruined everything."
She fired.
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