Chapter 11 - The Anonymous Threat
Three weeks before the gala premiere, the first anonymous package arrived at Valente Holdings.
It wasn't a corporate dossier or a legal writ. It was a single sheet of heavy black stationery slipped directly into Elena’s private inbox, bypassing the front security desk entirely.
“You cannot cheat destiny twice, Moretti. Step down from the podium, or the music stops permanently.”
Elena stared at the bold, jagged print. Her pulse spiked, but her hands did not tremble. She picked up the letter, walked straight past her old desk, and pushed open the heavy oak doors of Dante’s private office without knocking.
Dante looked up from a blueprint spread across his desk. One look at her face made him stand up instantly. “What is it?”
She dropped the black paper onto the blueprints.
Dante read it once. The air in the room instantly turned cold. His jaw tightened, the scar beneath his jaw standing out in stark relief. “Vincent,” he called out sharply toward the intercom. “Get in here.”
Within ten seconds, his head of private security appeared in the doorway.
“Trace this delivery,” Dante ordered, his voice dangerously low. “Check every security camera in the lower lobby, the parking garage, and the freight elevator. I want to know who touched that envelope before it hit her desk.”
“Already on it, Mr. Valente,” Vincent replied grimly, taking the paper with gloved hands.
Elena crossed her arms, looking out the glass window toward the Manhattan skyline. “It’s from Vienna. Or someone connected to my father’s old circle. They think I’m still the girl who ran away to America with a typewriter.”
Dante walked over, stopping just inches behind her. He didn't touch her, but his presence was an immovable wall of absolute protection. “They don't know you, Elena. And they certainly don't know me.”
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“I don't need protection, Dante.”
“Good,” Dante replied quietly. “Because I’m not protecting you. I’m hunting the person who thought they could threaten my chief executive.”
