Chapter 1 - The Gray House
The black Cadillac came to a smooth stop in front of the rundown gray house.
Aleandro Romano stepped out into the damp morning air.
He reached into the backseat and gently lifted the little girl onto the cracked sidewalk.
Mia did not let go of her yellow rubber gloves or her small blue bucket.
She walked up the crumbling concrete steps and struggled with the rusted doorknob.
Aleandro reached over her head and pushed the door open with a gloved hand.
The inside of the house was entirely silent.
The air smelled of cheap cleaning supplies and old, damp wood.
Mia dropped her bucket and ran toward a small bedroom at the back of a narrow hallway.
Aleandro followed close behind her, his hand instinctively reaching for the weapon hidden beneath his tailored suit jacket.
He stepped into the bedroom and saw a woman lying motionless on a faded quilt.
Her skin was pale, and her breathing was dangerously shallow.
Mia climbed onto the mattress and patted the woman's face.
"Mama, the shiny car man is here," Mia whispered.
The woman did not open her eyes.
Aleandro pulled a phone from his pocket and pressed a single button.
"Marco, get the family doctor to this address immediately," Aleandro commanded.
He knelt beside the bed and pressed two fingers against the woman's neck.
Her pulse was erratic, racing and fading in terrifying intervals.
He noticed a half-empty glass of water sitting on the cheap wooden nightstand.
A strange, milky residue coated the bottom of the glass.
The front door slammed open as Dr. Rossi, Aleandro's personal physician, rushed into the house with a medical bag.
The doctor took one look at the woman and immediately began drawing blood into a vial.
"Boss, you need to take the child outside right now," Dr. Rossi said, his voice tight with panic.
Aleandro picked up Mia and carried her out to the porch.
Ten minutes later, the doctor stepped out of the front door, his face completely pale.
"Is she going to live?" Aleandro asked.
"I stabilized her, but this was not a natural sickness," the doctor replied.
Aleandro frowned, his dark eyes narrowing.
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"She was poisoned, Boss," Dr. Rossi stated firmly.
"And whoever administered it used a synthetic neurotoxin that is exclusively manufactured by the Russian syndicate."
