Chapter 3 - The Hidden Lens
The heavy oak doors creaked open.
Silvio, Alejandro’s underboss and the man he had trusted like a brother for two decades, stepped into the study.
Silvio didn't call out. He didn't rush to Alejandro’s side. He calmly closed the doors behind him, walked over to the desk, and looked down at Alejandro’s motionless body.
A cruel, satisfied smile spread across Silvio’s face.
"I told the Commission the walnut extract would work," Silvio murmured to himself, using the toe of his expensive Italian loafer to nudge Alejandro’s shoulder. "No bullets. No blood. Just a tragic allergic reaction. Your only weakness, Alejandro. You should have told fewer people about it."
Silvio stepped over Alejandro and reached for the master safe hidden behind the oil painting on the wall.
"Guards!" Silvio suddenly shouted, his voice instantly changing from cold calculation to manufactured panic. "Guards! Get in here! The Boss is down!"
Within seconds, the study doors burst open. Four heavily armed men rushed into the room. A moment later, Maria, the housekeeper, was dragged into the room by her arm, sobbing hysterically.
"I found her in the hallway!" one of the guards barked.
Silvio pointed a trembling, dramatic finger at the broken wineglass on the rug.
"She poured his wine!" Silvio yelled, playing the role of the grieving brother perfectly. "The maid poisoned him! I just walked in and found him dead! Take her to the basement. We handle her the old way."
"No!" Maria screamed, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't! Please, I swear on my life! Where is my daughter? Emma!"
"Your daughter goes to an orphanage," Silvio spat. "Take this traitor out of my sight."
"Nobody," a dark, vibrating voice echoed from the floor, "touches the maid."
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Silvio froze. The guards froze.
Alejandro Moretti slowly sat up on the Aubusson rug, bracing his hand on the edge of the desk. He looked at Silvio with the cold, dead eyes of a man who had just returned from hell.
