Chapter 3 - THE NIGHT THE MAFIA BOSS BECAME HER SHIELD
The gunshot echoed through the Russo mansion.
For one second, everything stopped.
The employees froze.
The guards reached for their weapons.
And Chloe Bennett stood behind Victor Russo, unable to understand what was happening.
A few hours earlier, she had been embarrassed because she accidentally slept in her employer’s bed.
Now she was hiding behind the same man while someone was attacking his home.
Victor’s hand remained steady.
His eyes were cold.
The softness Chloe had seen that morning disappeared completely.
This was the real Victor Russo.
The man people whispered about.
The man who could silence a room without raising his voice.
“Stay here,” he ordered.
Chloe grabbed his sleeve before she could stop herself.
“Don’t.”
Victor looked down.
For a moment, he seemed surprised.
Nobody touched him like that.
Nobody told him what to do.
“You’re going out there?”
“Yes.”
“Someone just shot inside your house.”
“I noticed.”
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go.”
A strange expression crossed Victor’s face.
Concern.
Not anger.
“You’re worried about me?”
Chloe immediately released his sleeve.
“I’m worried about anyone walking toward someone with a gun.”
A faint smile almost appeared.
Almost.
Then Victor turned away.
“Lock the door behind me.”
Before Chloe could answer, he disappeared into the darkness.
The mansion had become a battlefield.
Victor moved silently through the hallway.
His security team followed.
“Report.”
One guard stepped forward.
“Two intruders entered through the east service entrance.”
“Names?”
“We don’t know.”
Victor looked toward the broken window.
That bothered him.
Nobody entered his property by accident.
Not without help.
“Find them.”
“Yes, sir.”
Minutes later, one attacker was caught outside near the garden.
Victor walked toward him.
The man was injured but still smiling.
“You’re getting slow, Russo.”
Victor stared.
He recognized him.
Anthony Moretti.
A former associate.
A man who had disappeared five years earlier after betraying Victor’s organization.
Victor’s expression hardened.
“You broke into my home.”
Anthony laughed.
“No.”
His eyes moved toward the mansion.
“I came to see what made Victor Russo finally care about something.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
Anthony smiled.
“The maid.”
Silence.
Victor knew then.
This wasn’t an attack.
It was a message.
Someone had discovered Chloe.
And they wanted Victor to know.
The next morning, Chloe woke up in a guest bedroom.
She remembered the gunshot.
The darkness.
Victor standing in front of her.
Protecting her.
She opened the door carefully.
Mrs. Gable was waiting outside.
“You are lucky.”
Chloe looked confused.
“Lucky?”
“You are still alive.”
The words made Chloe uncomfortable.
“Is Mr. Russo okay?”
Mrs. Gable studied her.
“You are asking about him?”
“He protected me.”
The older woman looked away.
“That is exactly the problem.”
“What do you mean?”
Mrs. Gable lowered her voice.
“Mr. Russo does not protect people.”
Chloe frowned.
“He protected me.”
“Yes.”
A pause.
“And that has never happened before.”
Before Chloe could ask more, Victor appeared at the end of the hallway.
His eyes met hers.
“Pack your things.”
Chloe’s heart dropped.
“I’m fired?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because you’re leaving.”
She stared at him.
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
Chloe shook her head.
“No.”
Victor looked surprised.
“No?”
“I need this job.”
“This isn’t about a job anymore.”
“Then what is it about?”
Victor stepped closer.
His voice became quiet.
“Someone is trying to use you to get to me.”
Chloe looked at him.
And asked the one question he wasn’t prepared for.
May you like
“Why would anyone care about a maid?”
TO BE CONTINUED…
