Chapter 4 - THE SHADOW IN THE HALLWAY
Alessandro did not raise his voice. He did not slam his fist on the heavy desk. He simply closed his eyes, his massive chest rising and falling in slow, controlled breaths.
When he finally opened them, his gaze was no longer that of a broken, grieving father. It was the gaze of an apex predator who had allowed himself to be caged, only to realize the keeper had dropped the keys.
"For three years," Alessandro whispered, his voice like grinding stones, "I blamed myself. I thought my syndicates enemies found a way to reach me. I spent every waking hour looking outward."
"Because Marco pointed you outward," I added.
"Yes," Alessandro breathed. He looked down at the brown bottle, picked it up, and unscrewed the cap. He didn't test it. He set it aside. "Marco is due in my study at 9:00 PM. He thinks I am too weak to sign the asset transfer papers myself, so he brings a signature stamp."
"What are you going to do?" I asked, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"I am going to let him walk into this room," Alessandro said softly, a dark, dangerous smile touching his lips. "And for the first time in three years, I am going to stand up."
My breath caught in my throat. "You can walk?"
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"I haven't used my legs in thirty-six months," Alessandro said, his eyes locking onto mine with fierce resolve. "Not because the spinal cord was severed, Elena. But because the poison in that bottle has been keeping my nervous system suppressed, mimicking permanent paralysis."
The pure horror of Marco’s calculated cruelty washed over me. He hadn't just been killing Alessandro; he had been keeping him alive just enough to act as an unwitting puppet while he slowly stole every remaining asset the Romano family owned.
