Chapter 1 - The Arrival
The wheels of the aircraft struck the New York tarmac with a heavy jolt.
Alessandro Vitali kept his breathing completely even as the cabin erupted into the usual chaos of arriving passengers.
Sophie immediately began stuffing her red sketchbook into her tiny backpack.
She looked up at him with those gray-blue eyes that mirrored his own.
"It was nice meeting you, Alessandro," she said with absolute sincerity.
"It was a pleasure meeting you too, Sophie," he replied smoothly.
He watched her walk down the aisle under the watchful eye of a flight attendant acting as her minor escort.
He gave them a thirty-second head start before stepping into the aisle himself.
He did not need to push past the slow crowds because his sheer physical presence naturally made people step aside.
When he reached the international arrivals terminal, he hung back near a coffee kiosk.
He scanned the sea of waiting faces until he saw her.
Camille Laurent looked exactly as she had six years ago, only her hair was shorter and her expression was guarded.
She was waiting near the glass barricades with a nervous tension vibrating through her entire body.
Sophie ran through the sliding doors and threw herself into her mother's arms.
Camille dropped to her knees, burying her face in the little girl's dark hair.
Alessandro felt a phantom pain in his chest, a hollow ache from the life that had been stolen from him.
He was about to step forward and reveal himself when a cold instinct washed over him.
A man in a gray trench coat was leaning against a pillar just twenty feet away from Camille.
The man was not looking at a phone or a flight board.
He was staring directly at Sophie and Camille with a chilling, predatory focus.
Alessandro recognized the serpent tattoo creeping up the man's neck instantly.
It was the mark of the Lucchese syndicate, the exact family that had ambushed Alessandro in that underground garage years ago.
The man in the gray coat slowly reached into his inner pocket.
Alessandro did not hesitate.
He moved silently through the crowded terminal, closing the distance like a shadow.
Before the assassin could pull his weapon, Alessandro clamped a hand over the man's mouth and drove a concealed ceramic blade directly into his kidney.
The man slumped silently into Alessandro's arms, looking like a tired traveler leaning on a friend.
Alessandro lowered him gently to a nearby bench.
May you like
When he looked back up toward the glass barricades, Camille was staring directly at him.
Her face drained of all color, and she stumbled backward as if she had just seen a ghost.
