Chapter 140

• I held my breath, pressed flat against the cold stone wall, listening for any sign of movement in the dark corridor. The moonlight filtering through the cracked windows was thin and useless, making every shadow seem alive. My heart was pounding so loud I thought the guards would hear it.
• Adam was ahead of me, a silent phantom in black. He turned back, his eyes finding mine in the gloom. He gave me a single nod—our signal to move. I swallowed hard and crept forward, my boots soundless on the dusty floor.
• We’d been planning this infiltration for days. Richard’s estate was an old, sprawling ruin outside Rome, converted into a fortress. High walls, spotlights, cameras. But Adam had bribed someone on the inside to cut the power for exactly twenty minutes.