Chapter 5 - Shadows in the East Wing
Moving into the east wing guest suite felt less like an upgrade and more like stepping into a royal prison.
The rooms were massive, decorated in rich velvet drapes, antique cherrywood furniture, and a private marble bathroom that looked like it belonged in a five-star hotel in Milan. But no matter how luxurious the surroundings were, the golden cage was still a cage.
By mid-afternoon, I sat at the mahogany writing desk by the window, staring out at the gravel driveway where sleek black sedans constantly arrived and departed.
My phone—which had been scrubbed and fitted with a military-grade secure encryption chip by Marco earlier that morning—buzzed against the wood.
A single text message from an unknown number: Check the third book on the left shelf.
My pulse spiked. I stood up instantly, walking over to the towering floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that lined the east wall. Scanning the third shelf down, I found a heavy, leather-bound volume titled The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.
I pulled it off the shelf.
A small, folded piece of hotel stationery slipped out from between the pages and drifted down to the parquet floor.
I knelt down, picked it up, and unfolded it. Inside was a handwritten note in neat, hurried script: The leak in your old room wasn't an accident. Someone forced the valve to rupture to flush you out of the staff quarters. Trust no one in the inner circle. Meet me at midnight by the greenhouse.
There was no signature.
May you like
I stared at the note, my mind racing. If the pipe bursting was sabotage, that meant someone inside the mansion—someone who knew my daily schedule and where my room was located—was trying to eliminate me or drive me out before I could uncover the truth about my brother.
And if that someone was a member of Vincent’s inner circle, walking around the grounds after dark meant stepping directly into a sniper's crosshairs.
