Chapter 3 - The Fortress
The Montes estate was located on the outskirts of the city, hidden behind towering stone walls and acres of dense, private forest. It wasn't just a mansion; it was a fortress.
The ride there had been a tense, suffocating silence, broken only by Sofía softly singing a nursery rhyme to herself in the backseat of the bulletproof SUV. Alejandro had sat across from them, his eyes tracking every shadow, every passing car, while simultaneously drinking in the sight of his daughter.
She had his nose. She had Valeria’s chin. She had a fierce independence that he recognized from the depths of his own soul.
When they arrived, the massive iron gates swung open, revealing a sprawling courtyard and a house that looked like a modern castle. Armed guards patrolled the perimeter.
"This house is very big," Sofía noted, pressing her small hands against the tinted glass. "Do you get lost in here?"
"Sometimes," Alejandro admitted softly. "But not anymore."
Inside, the staff had already prepared a guest wing. Valeria paced the length of the luxurious bedroom while Sofía, exhausted from the storm and the adrenaline, fell asleep in a massive four-poster bed.
Alejandro stood by the door, watching Valeria. The years had changed her. The carefree, artistic girl he had fallen in love with had been replaced by a hardened, hyper-vigilant mother. Yet, to him, she was more beautiful than ever.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Alejandro finally asked, the hurt bleeding through his stoic facade. "When Hector threatened you, why didn't you come to me? I would have destroyed him."
Valeria stopped pacing and crossed her arms, shivering despite the warmth of the room. "You were twenty-four, Alejandro. Your father had just died. Hector controlled the board, the accounts, the political connections. If I had told you, you would have gone to war, and he would have killed you. I traded your heart for your life. And I traded my happiness to keep our daughter breathing."
Alejandro closed the distance between them in three long strides. He stopped mere inches from her, the familiar scent of vanilla and rain washing over him. Slowly, hesitantly, he raised a hand and brushed a damp strand of hair from her cheek.
"I spent two years looking for you," he whispered, his voice thick with raw emotion. "I hired private investigators. I bribed officials. When the trail went cold, I thought you just realized I wasn't enough."
"You were everything," Valeria choked out, a tear spilling over her lashes. "Leaving you was the hardest thing I ever did."
For a fraction of a second, the space between them vanished. Alejandro leaned in, his lips mere millimeters from hers. The magnetic pull that had defined their past was just as intoxicating, just as dangerous.
But before their lips could meet, a blaring siren shattered the quiet of the estate.
Red emergency lights began flashing in the hallway. Mateo’s voice crackled furiously over the intercom system.
"Mr. Montes! We have a perimeter breach. Multiple heavily armed vehicles have just crashed the west gate. They’re inside the compound."
May you like
Hector hadn’t just sent a warning. He had sent an execution squad.
---
