The Safehouse in Giudecca

The private sanctuary on Giudecca was a fortified 16th-century monastery estate, secluded behind twenty-foot walls of weathered rose-colored brick, ancient gothic arches, and secluded courtyards planted with fragrant cypress trees and wild rosemary. Nikolai’s tactical security team immediately sealed the iron water gates, deploying high-frequency radio jammers and perimeter thermal sensors that rendered the entire property invisible to maritime radar and aerial surveillance. Inside the vaulted refectory salon, Julian Laurent…