Chapter 2 - The Face in the Glass
The silence in the study grew so heavy it felt physical.
Rocco stepped sideways, blocking the doorway with his broad frame, effectively cutting off Luca’s escape route. The junior administrator’s hands began to shake uncontrollably, his fingers twitching at his sides as sweat beaded along his hairline.
“Boss, we—we don't need to check the cameras right now,” Luca forced a strained, brittle laugh, his eyes darting frantically toward the hallway. “Your life was just saved, we should get you to a hospital, call the paramedics, secure the perimeter—it could be an external cartel hit—”
“Get the tablet, Luca,” Alejandro repeated, his voice dropping an octave into a tone that brooked no argument. It was the voice that made grown men beg for mercy in the basement interrogation rooms.
Slowly, his legs trembling beneath him, Luca stepped toward the desk. He reached out with a shaking hand, picked up the black tablet resting beside the keyboard, and tapped the screen to access the local surveillance server.
“Rewind,” Alejandro ordered, leaning back against the edge of his desk, his eyes never leaving Luca’s face. “Go back twenty minutes. To when you brought the tray in.”
Luca’s finger tapped the screen. The high-definition video playback flickered to life on the display.
The angle was wide, capturing every inch of the study. On the screen, the timestamp read 8:14 PM. The door swung open, and there on the high-definition recording was Luca himself, wearing the exact same charcoal suit he wore now, carrying a silver tray with a crystal decanter and two glasses.
The entire room watched in spellbound horror as the playback progressed.
On the screen, Luca set the tray down on the corner of the mahogany desk. His eyes glanced around the empty room to ensure he was alone. Then, with a quick, practiced motion, his fingers slid into his jacket pocket, extracting a small, amber glass vial with a dropper. He carefully squeezed three dark drops into the right-hand wineglass, swirled it once to dissolve the odorless, tasteless chemical compound—a rapid-acting synthetic paralyzer designed to mimic a fatal heart attack or severe allergic collapse—and stepped back just as footsteps approached the door.
The video on the tablet played out the exact moment Alejandro had walked in, poured the poisoned wine, taken a single sip, and collapsed coughing onto the Persian rug.
Then, on the screen, Luca watched his own past self stand over the dying mafia boss, watching him choke, offering no help, waiting for the life to drain out of him so it could be ruled a sudden medical emergency.
The tablet slipped from Luca’s fingers, crashing onto the hardwood floor with a sharp crack, the screen shattering into a web of spider-web lines.
“It—it’s a deepfake!” Luca shrieked, his voice cracking into a high-pitched panic as he fell backward against the bookshelves, sliding down until he hit the floor. “The cartel—they hacked your servers! They’re trying to frame me, Boss, I swear to God—”
“Shut up,” Alejandro said.
He didn't yell. He didn't scream. He simply stood up to his full, towering height, towering over the cowering administrator.
He looked down at me, still standing by his desk clutching my empty pink backpack, my eyes wide with confusion and fear. Alejandro’s expression softened—just slightly—as he reached out and placed a heavy, protective hand on my head.
“Rocco,” Alejandro said softly, never taking his eyes off Luca.
“Yes, Boss?”
“Take the traitor down to the basement vault. Make sure he’s comfortable. We’re going to have a very long, very educational conversation about corporate loyalty.” Alejandro turned his gaze back to me, crouching down so we were eye-to-eye. “And as for you, little one... what is your name?”
May you like
“Emma,” I whispered.
“Emma,” Alejandro repeated, testing the name on his tongue like a rare jewel. “You saved my life tonight. In the Moretti family, debts are never forgotten. Whatever your mother makes cleaning these floors, it’s about to change. And anyone who ever touches a hair on your head... answers to me.”
