Chapter 6 - The Freezing Silence
"That’s the shiny lady... she told the man to put the blinking red light under your big desk."
The innocent sentence hung in the air like a guillotine.
A suffocating, dead silence fell over the massive marble hallway. The faint ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner sounded like gunshots.
Isabella froze mid-breath. Her hand, which had been dabbing fake tears from her mascara, dropped to her side. The color drained from her cheeks until she was as white as the marble beneath her heels.
"What did you just say, little one?"
Damiano Moretti’s voice was dangerously low. It wasn't loud, but it carried an authority that made the seasoned bodyguards in the corners instinctively stiffen. He took two slow, measured steps toward Emma.
Sophia panicked, throwing her arms over her daughter. "Don Moretti, please! She’s just a baby, she doesn't know what she's saying, she's imagining things—"
"Silence," Damiano commanded softly, raising one leather-gloved hand. He didn't look angry; he looked lethal.
He dropped down to one knee in front of Emma, coming down to the six-year-old’s eye level. The feared syndicate kingpin, who had survived three assassination attempts and ruled the underworld with an iron fist, gently looked at the trembling child.
"Tell me again, little bird," Damiano said, his tone shockingly calm. "What was under my desk?"
Emma sniffled, clutching her plush bunny against her chest. "A black box with a red eye that blinks. The shiny lady was smiling. The man said it would make you all go boom when you sit down."
Behind Damiano, Don Salvatore’s eyes widened in fury. "Moretti... what the hell is this child talking about?"
Isabella’s voice shot up two octaves in sheer panic. "Damiano! You cannot seriously be listening to the ramblings of an illiterate maid’s brat! She’s trying to cover for her mother's theft! Guards, remove them immediately!"
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👉 *Damiano didn't look at Isabella; instead, he snapped his fingers and gave a chilling three-word order.*
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