CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
The Enemy Inside Villa Moretti
Alessandro Moretti had survived wars.
Not the kind written about in newspapers.
Not the kind with soldiers and flags.
His wars happened in dark rooms.
Behind closed doors.
With men who smiled while deciding who would disappear.
He had learned one rule above all others:
The most dangerous enemy was never the one standing outside the walls.
It was the one who already had a key.
After the photograph arrived, Villa Moretti changed.
The staff doubled.
The security cameras were replaced.
Every entrance was monitored.
Every employee was investigated.
Every visitor was checked.
No one entered without Alessandro knowing.
No one.
At least...
That was what he believed.
Clara noticed the changes immediately.
The quiet mansion had become a fortress.
Guards stood at every corner.
Cars followed them whenever they left.
Even the garden where Emma played now had hidden security.
She understood why.
She understood the danger.
But she also saw something else.
Alessandro was afraid.
Not of enemies.
Not of death.
Of losing Emma.
"You haven't slept."
Clara found him in the library at three in the morning.
He was standing over old documents.
She had never seen him look so exhausted.
"I sleep."
She raised an eyebrow.
"For twenty minutes?"
He looked at her.
"You sound like Luca."
"Maybe Luca is right."
A faint smile appeared.
Then disappeared.
"You should leave."
Clara froze.
"What?"
"Take Emma somewhere safe."
Her expression hardened.
"No."
"It would be safer."
"For who?"
"For her."
Clara stepped closer.
"You think I don't know danger?"
"No."
"You think because I'm a maid I don't understand your world?"
Alessandro stayed silent.
Clara's voice lowered.
"I watched my husband die."
"I spent three years running."
"I raised Emma while looking over my shoulder every day."
She looked directly at him.
"I am not afraid of your world."
A pause.
"I am afraid of losing my daughter."
Those words stayed with him.
Because they were the same fear he carried.
The next morning, Alessandro made a decision.
Emma would remain at Villa Moretti.
Not because it was safe.
Because nowhere was safe anymore.
And at least here...
She had him.
For the first time, Emma ate breakfast with Alessandro.
The sight confused everyone.
The most feared man in Milan was cutting strawberries into tiny pieces.
Carefully.
Unevenly.
Because he had never done it before.
Emma looked at the plate.
"Your strawberries are strange."
Alessandro looked serious.
"They taste the same."
"No."
She pointed.
"Those are triangle strawberries."
"They are normal strawberries."
"They're wrong."
He looked offended.
"I have handled international negotiations."
Emma nodded.
"But not strawberries."
Clara turned away to hide a smile.
She had forgotten what Alessandro looked like when he wasn't dangerous.
Human.
But the peace did not last.
At noon, the alarm sounded.
Not the normal security alert.
The emergency one.
The entire mansion froze.
Alessandro was in the hallway before anyone could reach him.
"What happened?"
Luca appeared.
"Someone accessed the east wing."
"Who?"
"We don't know."
Alessandro's expression changed.
"Nobody gets into this house without leaving a record."
Luca nodded.
"That's why it's a problem."
They moved through the mansion.
Quiet.
Armed.
Searching.
The east wing contained old family rooms.
Places Alessandro rarely entered.
Places filled with memories.
And secrets.
Then they found it.
A door.
Open.
A room that had been locked for fifteen years.
Daniel Romano's old room.
Alessandro stopped.
Nobody touched anything.
He entered alone.
The room smelled old.
Dust.
Wood.
Time.
But something was different.
Someone had been there recently.
On the desk was a single object.
A photograph.
Daniel.
Clara.
Baby Emma.
And another person.
Someone Alessandro had never seen.
A woman.
The same woman from the photograph.
Behind it was a message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED YOUR FRIEND THE TRUTH.
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
Because whoever entered the room knew something impossible.
They knew Daniel.
They knew Emma.
They knew him.
Then he saw the floor.
A small piece of fabric.
White.
With a faint smell.
Perfume.
Clara entered behind him.
The moment she saw it, her face changed.
"You know this smell."
She nodded slowly.
"I thought she was dead."
"Who?"
Clara whispered:
"Daniel's sister."
The name meant nothing.
Until Luca searched the records.
Minutes later, he returned.
His face was pale.
"Alessandro."
"What?"
"Daniel Romano had no sister."
Silence.
"According to official records..."
"He was an only child."
Clara looked terrified.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because she told me she was his sister."
Alessandro turned.
"When?"
"The night Daniel disappeared."
The room became colder.
"What did she say?"
Clara swallowed.
"She said Daniel had made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"Choosing us."
Before anyone could respond...
A scream came from upstairs.
Emma.
Alessandro moved faster than anyone.
The fear on his face lasted only a second.
But Clara saw it.
The terrifying Alessandro Moretti...
Was afraid.
They reached Emma's room.
The door was open.
The window was broken.
The curtains moved in the wind.
And Emma was standing beside her bed.
Holding Mr. Bunny.
Crying.
Alessandro rushed to her.
"Emma."
She grabbed him.
"Someone was here."
His entire body went still.
"Who?"
She pointed toward the window.
"A lady."
Clara's face went white.
"The woman?"
Emma nodded.
"She said she wanted to see me."
Alessandro looked outside.
No footprints.
No movement.
Nothing.
Impossible.
"What did she say?"
Emma hugged the rabbit.
"She said..."
Her voice trembled.
"She said my daddy promised to protect me."
Alessandro's heart tightened.
"And?"
Emma looked at him.
"She said you would break the promise."
The words struck him.
Because they were not a threat.
They were a prediction.
That night, Alessandro gathered everyone.
The staff.
The guards.
The inner circle.
The people who had served the Moretti family for years.
He stood at the center of the mansion.
And spoke one sentence.
"There is a traitor inside this house."
Everyone became silent.
Because they all understood.
If someone had entered Villa Moretti...
If someone had reached Emma...
If someone had accessed Daniel's room...
Then someone inside had helped them.
Luca stepped forward.
"We investigate everyone."
Alessandro nodded.
"No exceptions."
A pause.
Then his eyes moved across the room.
"Even those who have been loyal for years."
Later that night, Clara found him sitting beside Emma's bed.
The little girl was asleep.
Her hand held one of his fingers.
Clara watched silently.
"You really care about her."
Alessandro didn't look away.
"I don't know when it happened."
"When what happened?"
"When she stopped being someone I had to protect..."
His voice became quieter.
"And became someone I couldn't imagine losing."
Clara looked at him.
For the first time, she saw the man behind the reputation.
Not a mafia boss.
Not a feared name.
Just someone who had finally found something worth fighting for.
But downstairs...
A hidden phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
THE GIRL IS ATTACHED TO HIM NOW.
Another message followed.
GOOD.
NOW WE CAN DESTROY HIM.
Inside Villa Moretti...
The enemy was not coming.
The enemy was already there.
And they knew exactly where Alessandro Moretti was weakest.
Not his empire.
Not his money.
Not his power.
May you like
His heart.
End of Chapter 4
