The gunshot echoed through the council chamber.
For a moment, everything froze.
One of the guards lay on the floor, blood spreading beneath him. The other guards raised their weapons instantly, turning in every direction.
"Don't move!" Enzo barked.
Panic rippled through the room.
Council members ducked lower behind the table, while the guards searched for the shooter.
Marco's arm moved protectively in front of me.
"Stay behind me," he said quietly.
But my eyes were already scanning the room.
Someone inside had fired that shot.
Someone who had been standing with the guards.
And that meant the enemy had been here the entire time.
A second gunshot exploded.
Another guard cried out and collapsed against the wall.
Chaos erupted.
"Shooter inside!" someone shouted.
Marco grabbed the fallen guard's weapon from the floor in one swift motion.
"Find them!" he ordered.
The remaining guards spread out, guns raised.
But the room was filled with too many people, too much confusion which is a perfect cover for a traitor.
My gaze moved across the faces around the table.
Fear.
Shock.
Anger.
But one face looked… calm.
Too calm.
Adrian.
He hadn't moved from his chair.
He wasn't ducking neither was he panicking instead he was just watching.
Watching everything.
Marco noticed it too.
Their eyes met across the room.
"Adrian," Marco said slowly.
Adrian tilted his head slightly.
"Yes?"
"You seem remarkably relaxed for someone under attack."
A faint smile appeared on Adrian's lips.
"Well," he said softly, "that's because I know something you don't."
Marco's expression hardened.
"What is that?"
Adrian leaned back in his chair.
"That this attack isn't meant to kill you."
Another gunshot rang out.
This one came from the far side of the room.
One of the guards turned suddenly then raised his weapon toward Marco.
Everything happened in seconds.
The guard fired.
"Marco!" I shouted.
But Marco had already moved.
He pulled the table upward, flipping it on its side as the bullet slammed into the wood.
The room erupted into shouting.
Enzo tackled the attacking guard before he could fire again.
The two men crashed into the wall, struggling violently while another guard rushed forward to help.
Within seconds the traitor was pinned to the ground.
His gun clattered across the floor.
"Hold him!" Enzo ordered.
The man struggled desperately.
But he was outnumbered.
Finally, Marco stepped forward slowly.
The entire room watched as the traitor glared up at him with hatred burning in his eyes.
Marco looked down at him calmly.
"You were one of my security team," Marco said.
The man spat on the floor.
"Not anymore."
"Who sent you?"
The man laughed harshly.
"You already know."
Marco's eyes flickered toward Adrian.
But Adrian simply raised his hands casually.
"Don't look at me," he said.
"I didn't pull the trigger."
Marco's gaze returned to the captured guard.
"Answer the question."
The man's smile widened.
"They said you were getting weak."
Marco said nothing.
"They said the council was tired of following you."
Still nothing.
"And they said…" the man continued, his voice lowering,
"…your new fiancée would make the perfect bait."
A chill ran down my spine.
Marco's jaw tightened.
"Who are they?"
The man leaned closer, whispering something only Marco could hear.
Marco's expression changed instantly.
Not to fear, but to something colder.
Something darker.
He straightened slowly.
Enzo noticed.
"What did he say?"
Marco looked at the man one last time.
Then spoke quietly.
"He says the attack today was only the beginning."
The room fell silent again.
The captured guard laughed weakly.
"You think this is over?" he said.
"You have no idea what's coming."
Marco crouched slightly, meeting the man's eyes.
"No," Marco said calmly.
"You have no idea what's coming."
He stood and nodded to Enzo.
"Take him."
The guards dragged the man out of the room.
The council members slowly stood again, shaken but alive.
The silver-haired man rubbed his forehead.
"This situation is getting out of control."
Marco turned toward the table.
"No," he said.
"It's getting clear."
The woman frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Marco's eyes slowly moved around the room.
Studying every face.
Every reaction.
"Someone is organizing this," he said.
"Someone powerful enough to recruit people from inside my own security team."
Adrian spoke quietly.
"You think the traitor is still in this room."
Marco's gaze locked onto him.
"I know he is."
The tension returned instantly.
Adrian stood slowly.
"You're accusing me?"
Marco didn't blink.
"I'm saying the enemy knows too much."
Adrian smiled faintly.
"Well," he said,
"maybe your enemy is closer than you think."
The words sent another chill through the room.
Marco turned slightly toward me.
Just for a second.
But I understood the message even without him moving his mouth.
Trust no one.
Not the council.
Not the guards.
Maybe not even Adrian.
Because the enemy wasn't finished.
And the next attack…
Would be far more deadly.