Chapter 4 - THE HIDDEN PENDANT
The silence in the marble hallway was absolute.
In the background, through the open doors of the private office, the glow of the video monitors illuminated the empty leather chair where Alessandro was supposed to be leading an international syndicate summit. But in the hallway, the feared mob boss was paralyzed by an eight-month-old baby in a pink dress.
Elena watched in sheer astonishment as the man who commanded hundreds of hardened enforcers carefully adjusted his posture, ensuring he didn't squeeze the infant too tightly.
As Mia settled deeper into the crook of Alessandro’s arm, her soft shoulder rubbed against the collar of her delicate pink dress.
The movement shifted the fine fabric, and a thin, delicate silver chain slipped out from beneath her collar.
Hanging from the chain was a tiny, worn silver pendant that tumbled out and fell flat against the back of Alessandro’s tattooed left hand.
Alessandro’s dark eyes casually drifted down to look at the metal resting against his skin.
The moment his eyes locked onto the small silver object, his entire expression shattered.
The cold, stoic indifference that had defined Alessandro Duca for decades vanished in a single, terrifying instant. His breathing stopped completely. His jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched violently along his razor-sharp jawline.
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Slowly, using the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, he pinched the tiny silver pendant, lifting it off his skin to hold it up toward the daylight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"Elena..." Alessandro rasped, his voice suddenly thick, raspy, and devoid of its usual authority.
