Page 220 of Diego

The sudden sound and activity are enough to set both children off almost at once. Leonardo begins crying first, loud and confused, and Cecilia follows a second later as Julia pulls her into her arms.

Victoria is already standing with Leonardo against her chest. “Giacomo?”

I push the blanket aside and get to my feet. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know yet.” Giacomo crosses the living area and looks toward the windows again. “We lost every external signal on the property less than two minutes ago.”

My stomach drops. “What do you mean, lost?”

“Cell service is gone, and every outside line we use is down. Internet, external communications, everything that connects this property to somewhere else.” His gaze shifts to the security panel near the hallway. “The internal system is still running. Cameras are live, perimeter sensors are live, gates are responding. For now, the house itself is secure.”

“That doesn’t happen accidentally,” Victoria says.

“No.”

Giacomo pulls out his phone, checks it, then puts it away again. “I’ve been trying Diego. I can’t reach him. I’ve tried Ricardo, Mario, and the others too.”

I look toward my own phone. “My call with Diego dropped.”

Giacomo’s attention snaps to me. “When?”

“Just before you came in. He called me first. I missed it, called him back, and the connection died almost immediately.”

He pulls out his phone again, checks the screen, then looks toward one of the other security people. “Keep watching every feed. I want someone on the gates and someone checking the perimeter from inside the system. Nobody leaves the house. And nobody comes in.”

I shiver at his last words.

“We’re moving downstairs.” He turns toward the others with him. “Lower level. Now.”

Nobody argues.

Victoria shifts Leonardo higher against her and starts moving. Julia scoops Cecilia up completely, rabbit and all, while Emilia heads with us without needing to be told twice. I grab my phone from the sofa and shove it into my pocket.

Giacomo points toward the hallway. “Stay together.”

I know the lower level exists. Obviously, I showed Diego this house myself, and I highlighted all the security features, but I haven't been to the lower level since we walked through the house together. At the time, these security features had been another selling point. Right now, it's a lot more real.

We reach the hallway leading toward the stairs.

Leonardo is still crying into Victoria’s shoulder, startled awake and feeding off everyone else’s tension. Cecilia has buried her face against Julia and is clutching her shirt in one fist.

I hate that they are scared.

I hate more that Giacomo still cannot tell us why.

“Is someone on the property?” I ask as we move.

“We haven't detected anyone yet. Keep moving.”

We make it halfway down the stairs before a violent burst cracks from outside, louder than a gunshot.

The sound punches through the house hard enough that I feel it in my chest.

Julia gasps and tightens her hold on Cecilia. Victoria ducks instinctively around Leonardo, turning her body between him and the direction of the sound. Emilia grabs the railing.

The lights go out.

For one black second, nobody moves.