Chapter 9 - The Three Knocks
Upstairs in the master suite, the room was locked down tight.
Heavy steel reinforcement plates had slid into place across the exterior windows, and the digital security monitors glowed with amber feeds of the empty hallways below.
Mia was fast asleep curled up on the edge of the king-sized velvet bed, her small hands clutching the crayon drawing she had made for Lorenzo.
Clara paced back and forth across the Persian rug, her hands clasped tightly together, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. Every time a distant sound echoed through the sprawling mansion—a settling beam, the hum of the HVAC system, the wind rattling the roof tiles—she flinched, her eyes darting toward the heavy oak door.
Twenty minutes.
It had been twenty agonizing minutes since Lorenzo walked down to the subterranean garage to face a trained killer alone.
She couldn't just sit here. She reached out and grabbed the brass doorknob—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three deliberate, heavy raps against the wood.
Clara froze, her breath catching in her throat. She stared at the door as if it were a ghost.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three distinct knocks. Exactly as he had promised.
With trembling fingers, Clara turned the handle and pulled the heavy door open.
Lorenzo stood in the hallway.
His dark coat was dusted with fine concrete dust, and there was a small smudge of soot across his right cheek, but he stood tall, uninjured, and completely steady. The cold, dangerous predator from the garage had vanished, replaced by the calm, grounding presence Clara had come to rely on.
"It's over," Lorenzo said softly.
Clara let out a ragged, shuddering breath, the tension of the entire night instantly collapsing outward. Without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face against his chest.
Lorenzo wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against him, burying his face in her hair as the fierce, protective walls he had built around his heart finally gave way.
"You're safe," he murmured against her ear. "Mia is safe. It's all over."
May you like
Clara pulled back just enough to look up into his face, her hazel eyes shining with unshed tears and profound relief. "I thought... when you went down there... I thought I lost you."
"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Clara," Lorenzo said, a rare, tender smile softening his harsh features. "I still owe you a trip to the harbor for that ice cream."
