Technically, there was a safe house beneath the rug in the study. Laurie was frantically trying to find the latch, her movements hurried and uncharacteristically unsteady.
“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath, pulling at the edge of the ornate rug that covered the floor. “I know it’s here somewhere.”
My heart pounded in my chest as I paced the room, every thud of my footsteps drowned out by the faint sounds of gunfire in the distance. Alessio. Was he okay? Where was he? I clenched my fists, the code I’d discovered racing through my mind like a beacon.
“Bella,” Laurie said, snapping me out of my thoughts. She looked up at me, her face pale but composed. “Help Sofia. Make sure she stays out of harm’s way.”
I turned to Sofia, who was clutching a small box against her chest, her lips p
