Chapter 3 - The Doorway of No Return
Down in the sub-level freezing dark, time had lost its shape.
Beatrice knelt on the cold stone outside the wine cellar door, her forehead pressed against the wood, her voice raw and bleeding from shouting.
“Lily, baby, listen to my voice,” Beatrice gasped, tears carving clean tracks through the dust and blood on her cheek. “Just breathe in slow... like you’re smelling a flower... and blow it out like you’re blowing out a candle. Come on, sweet girl. Mommy’s here—I mean, Beatrice is here. I’m right outside.”
From inside the vault, the breathing sounded like tearing paper.
Hhnn... hhnn...
“Beatrice...” Lily’s voice was barely a whisper now. “It’s... too cold.”
“I know, angel. I know. Mr. Rossi is coming. I talked to him. He’s on his way. He’s going to break this door down and he’s going to fix everything.”
A heavy, muffled thud echoed from the top of the cellar stairs.
Beatrice froze.
Heavy, rapid footsteps were pounding down the stone steps—not the light, mocking click of Victoria’s heels, but the heavy, purposeful tread of heavy boots.
Beatrice scrambled to her feet, instinctively turning to shield the door, her bruised hands raised defensively.
The figure rounding the corner into the dim corridor wasn't Victoria.
It was Leo Rossi.
His overcoat was open, his tie slightly loosened, and his face was a mask of such terrifying, cold fury that even the shadows seemed to shrink away from him. Behind him, Marcus and two armed guards fanned out instantly, securing the perimeters of the basement.
Leo stopped three feet from Beatrice. His dark eyes swept over her—the torn uniform, the swollen, purpling fingers, the dark crimson stain across her jawline.
Then his gaze dropped to the heavy iron deadbolt on the cellar door.
“Where is she?” Leo asked. His voice wasn't loud. It was a deadly, quiet hiss.
“She’s... she’s inside,” Beatrice choked out, trembling so hard she could barely stand. “Victoria locked her in. She didn't have her inhaler, Mr. Rossi. She’s been in there for over an hour. She stopped coughing ten minutes ago.”
Leo didn't waste a breath on words.
He stepped up to the door, raised his right foot, and slammed his heavy leather boot directly into the oak frame beside the lock.
May you like
CRACK.
The reinforced wood splintered. With a second brutal kick, the deadbolt ripped completely out of the masonry, and the heavy door swung wide open into the freezing dark.
