Chapter 9 - THE COMMAND
Dante turned his head slightly toward the door without lifting his palm from her stomach.
“Marcus,” he called out, his voice calm, steady, and terrifyingly clear.
Bodyguard 1 stepped forward immediately, his heavy leather boots crunching through the glass shards on the floor. “Yes, Mr. Moretti?”
“Bring the car to the front curb,” Dante ordered. “Call Dr. Vance. Tell him to have the medical suite at the lake house prepared within four hours. High-risk pregnancy setup. Full prenatal team on standby.”
“Right away, sir,” Bodyguard 1 replied, pulling a dark satellite phone from his inner pocket as he pushed open the heavy glass door of the diner, stepping out into the rain.
Sophia felt her heart hammer wildly against her ribs, her breathing turning into ragged, panicked gasps. “Dante, stop! No! I can’t go! I have my apartment... my things—”
“Your things are trash,” Dante interrupted coldly, his eyes searching her face with absolute finality. “Your life here is over. You had your seven months of pretending, Sophia. It’s done.”
From the kitchen window, Mel made a sudden, desperate attempt to speak up. He stepped into the aisle holding a wooden rolling pin, his hands shaking violently. “Hey! Look, mister... you can’t just come in here and harass my staff—!”
Before Mel could take two steps, Bodyguard 2 swung around smoothly, stepping directly into the owner's path. He didn't draw his weapon; he simply unbuttoned his suit jacket, revealing the polished black grip of a heavy semi-automatic handgun resting in a shoulder rig against his white shirt.
Bodyguard 2 placed one large hand flat against Mel’s chest, pushing the elderly owner back three steps with effortless force.
“Go back inside your kitchen, old man,” Bodyguard 2 said in a flat, emotionless tone. “Turn off the lights. Forget you ever saw this face.”
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Mel looked at the gun, looked at the scarred man standing before him, and then looked at Sophia with a mixture of helplessness and sheer terror. He slowly dropped his head, stepped backward into the kitchen, and pulled the small metal service window shade down with a loud CLANG.
The diner was now completely isolated.
