#Chapter 35 Unmasked

Mia The room fell into an eerie silence, the party guests cowering around the edges, too terrified to move. The air was thick with tension, every eye on Albert as he reached out to me. The menace that had been on his face had faded a bit. "I didn't realize we had a party to go to, darling," Albert said, a small, humorless smile on his lips. "You should have said something." His words broke through the haze. His tone was familiar, but it was all so fuzzy. Relief washed over me, and I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I was safe. Albert was here, and he would make sure of it. Wouldn't he? But how? But as I glanced around, my heart skipped a beat. Lorenzo still had a gun, his knuckles white around the handle, and Elio was right behind me with a gun of his own. They were completely outnumbered, yet their defiance showed they hadn't given up. What about the men outside? Their backup? Albert's gaze hardened as he looked at the two men who had hauled me back into the house.