Chapter 1 THE MAN BEHIND THE GLASS

The man on the floor was begging.

"I swear, Alessandro, I didn't betray you-"

"Again," Alessandro Moretti said calmly.

"I swear Don, I didn't mean for me to betray you."

The man said again, hands shaking as he tried to form more words, eyes shaking like he was staring at the devil himself. The man standing before him might actually be more than the devil.

The room fell silent.

No one ever crosses him without facing the consequences.

No one steals from him.

No one!!

No one questioned him. No one ever did.

From the top floor of the building, the city lights glittered beyond the wall of reinforced glass. Cars crawled through the streets like glowing insects, their drivers unaware of who truly owned the roads they traveled.

Alessandro stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his perfectly tailored suit as dark as the night outside. Not a single wrinkle disturbed the fabric. Rings coating his long , slender fingers.

The same could not be said for the man kneeling behind him.

"I'm telling the truth," the man insisted, his voice shaking. "I would never-"

A single glance from Alessandro silenced him instantly.

Alessandro never needed to raise his voice. Authority clung to him like a shadow-quiet, suffocating, and impossible to escape.

He turned slightly, acknowledging the presence of his right-hand man.

Luca stood nearby with his arms crossed, watching the scene unfold with practiced indifference.

"You were warned," Alessandro said at last, turning to face the traitor fully.

"Once."

A slow step forward.

"Twice."

The room seemed to shrink with every movement he made.

Fear thickened the air.

Moments later, the problem was handled.

Silence settled over the room again.

Alessandro returned to the glass wall, staring out at the restless city below. His jaw tightened slightly-not from anger, but from exhaustion.

Power demanded constant vigilance.

Mercy was a luxury he had stopped believing in long ago.

"Another issue," Luca said carefully.

Alessandro didn't turn. "Business?"

"No."

That got his attention.

Alessandro slowly faced him.

"There's a woman," Luca continued. His voice slightly lowered with fear "She witnessed the exchange at the docks last night."

Alessandro's reflection stared back at him from the glass.

Cold. Calculating.

"Witnesses don't stay witnesses," he replied flatly.

Luca hesitated.

"She's... different," he said. "No connections. Wrong place, wrong time."

For a moment, Alessandro said nothing.

Then he turned fully.

"Find her."

Luca studied him carefully. "And when we do?"

Alessandro's gaze drifted back to the glittering city below.

"Then we make sure," he said quietly, "she never speaks about what she saw."

And just like that, somewhere in the city, a woman who didn't even know his name had become his next problem.

And in Alessandro Moretti's world, problems rarely survived for long.

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****Author's Note 📝 🖤..

What do you think will happen to the woman?

Comment below 👀

Also, you do you all like Alessandro?

Do y'all think he's too heartless 🤧?.

Comment and write your answers or questions so that I know what you all think.