Chapter 10 - THE TARGET ON HANNAH’S BACK
The security alarm screamed through the entire mansion.
Red lights flashed across the walls.
For years, I had built the Rossi estate to be impossible to break into.
Steel gates.
Armed guards.
Advanced surveillance.
Yet someone had walked inside like they owned the place.
And I knew exactly why.
They weren’t after me.
They weren’t after my fortune.
They were after Hannah.
“Get Leo out of here.”
I turned toward Marcus.
His expression was already serious.
“Where?”
“The safe room.”
Two guards moved immediately toward the nursery.
But Hannah didn’t move.
She was frozen.
Still trying to understand what Matteo had just revealed.
“I’m not a Rossi.”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“I’m just Hannah.”
I looked at her.
And for the first time, I realized something.
She wasn’t fighting for money.
She wasn’t fighting for power.
She was terrified because everyone suddenly wanted something from her.
“You’re not going anywhere alone.”
She looked at me.
“Why are you helping me?”
The question surprised me.
Because I didn’t know how to answer.
A few days ago, she had been invisible to me.
Now I was willing to protect her with my life.
Maybe because she saved my son.
Maybe because I understood what it felt like to lose everything.
Or maybe because, somewhere deep inside, I knew she had been abandoned by the same family that destroyed my life.
“Because someone is trying to kill you.”
“That’s not an answer.”
I looked directly into her eyes.
“Because you saved my son when nobody else could.”
Before she could respond, a gunshot exploded through the mansion.
Everyone froze.
The guards moved instantly.
Another shot.
Closer.
Marcus grabbed his weapon.
“Everyone down!”
The lights flickered.
Then the cameras went black.
Someone had disabled the entire security system.
A professional.
Not a random attacker.
I looked at Hannah.
“Stay behind me.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
I stared at her.
“No?”
She swallowed.
“I spent my whole life running from powerful people.”
Her voice trembled.
“I’m tired of running.”
For the first time, I saw something beyond her sadness.
Strength.
A survivor.
Then a voice echoed from the hallway.
“Lorenzo!”
My blood turned cold.
Not Matteo.
Someone else.
Someone I recognized.
“Vincent?”
My uncle stepped into view.
My father’s younger brother.
A man who had disappeared from the family years ago.
But he wasn’t alone.
Two armed men stood beside him.
I stared.
“What are you doing?”
Vincent smiled.
“What your father should have done years ago.”
He looked at Hannah.
“Removing mistakes.”
Hannah stepped back.
My anger exploded.
“You came into my home.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“I came into my family’s home.”
His eyes moved toward Hannah.
“You have no idea what you are.”
I stepped forward.
“She is under my protection.”
Vincent smiled.
“Then you’ll fall with her.”
The guards raised their weapons.
The mansion became a battlefield.
And then Vincent said something that made everyone stop.
“Ask Lorenzo why his wife died.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
Vincent looked at me.
“You still think Sophia’s death was an accident?”
The world went silent.
Because that was the one wound I never allowed anyone to touch.
My wife.
My unborn child.
The night that destroyed everything.
“What did you say?”
Vincent smiled.
“Your father’s secrets didn’t die with him.”
Then the lights went out.
May you like
And when they came back…
Vincent was gone.
