Chapter 2 - The Code of the House
Javier. Head of security. A man whose face usually looked like it had been carved out of granite, never showing a flicker of emotion or doubt.
I crept toward the door, my bare feet making no sound on the tile. My heart hammered against my cracked ribs like a trapped bird.
“If Carmine sent you,” I called out, my voice raspy and shaking, “what did my mother use to sing when she cooked?”
A heavy silence settled on the other side of the door. The seconds stretched out like hours. For a terrifying moment, I thought Javier would curse, bang on the wood, or try to force the latch.
Then, a low, hesitant murmur filtered through the gap at the bottom of the door.
“O Sole Mio... but she changed the words to fit the pancakes.”
My breath hitched. It was correct. Not even Daniel remembered that little quirk—how Mom used to twist the old Neapolitan melodies into silly, improvised rhyming nonsense while flipping batter on a Sunday morning.
I reached out with a trembling hand, turned the heavy brass deadbolt, and pulled the door open.
Javier stood in the dimly lit corridor, his dark coat damp with sleet, his eyes sharp and scanning the hallway behind him before he slipped inside and pulled the door shut behind him, locking it instantly.
“Are you alright?” Javier asked, his voice low and urgent as his gaze swept over my face, noting the bruised cheek and the torn lip.
“I’m fine,” I lied automatically, the survival reflex kicking in. “Where is Carmine?”
“He went looking for Rocco,” Javier said grimly, reaching into his coat and pulling out a small, encrypted burner phone. He slid it across the stainless steel prep table toward me. “The boss found the black leather folder in Rocco’s personal quarters ten minutes ago. It wasn't just a ledger, Elena. It was an internal hit list.”
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I stared at the black phone, terrified to touch it. “A hit list? Whose?”
“People within our own organization,” Javier said, his jaw tightening. “And people outside it who stumbled onto things they shouldn't have. Your name was on the second page, Elena. Marked for termination before dawn.”
