Lorenzo stood in the master bedroom of the empty villa.
Around him, his tactical teams were finishing their final searches. They'd cleared every room. They'd found the tunnel. They'd understood the complete scope of their failure.
His daughter had been here. Right here in this building. And she'd walked out voluntarily with his enemy.
It was the most humiliating defeat of his life.
He stood at the window, looking out at the moonlit countryside, and made a decision.
He pulled out his phone and dialed.
***
Antonio answered on the second ring.
"Lorenzo," Antonio said, and there was something almost expectant in his voice, as if he'd been waiting for this call.
"I wondered when you'd call," Antonio continued.
"My daughter is gone," Lorenzo said without preamble. "Dante took her. They used an underground tunnel that was built into the property. We had a forty-minute window, and they were already gone before my teams even breached the villa."
