Chapter 1 - The Photograph
Elias stood frozen in the shadowed hallway of the decaying Chelsea apartment building.
The distinct smell of boiled cabbage and damp plaster faded entirely into the background.
His eyes were locked completely on a small wooden dresser in the corner of the room.
A silver picture frame sat perfectly centered on the scratched and peeling wood.
He did not need to step any closer to recognize the smiling face in the photograph.
It was Thomas Hayes.
Three long years ago, Thomas had taken two fatal bullets to the chest to ensure Elias made it out of a brutal warehouse ambush alive.
Elias had spent millions of dollars trying to find the brave man's family after the private funeral.
His best investigators and elite trackers had found absolutely nothing.
Now, the widow of the man who saved his life was scrubbing floors in his mansion just to steal leftover bread.
A heavy, suffocating knot formed fiercely in the powerful mafia boss's throat.
He watched silently as Adeline gently began to unwrap the dirty bandage on the teenage boy's wrist.
The boy winced sharply but tried his absolute hardest to hide his pain from his mother.
"I am so sorry it hurts, Leo," Adeline whispered with heavy tears in her eyes.
She carefully applied the cheap medical dressing she had just purchased with her last few coins.
Elias finally understood the missing kitchen food and the desperate requests for extra night shifts.
Adeline Hayes was not a corporate mole working for the rival Cormac Haverin organization.
She was simply a desperate, terrified mother trying to keep her injured son alive in a cruel city.
Elias reached into his tailored Italian suit jacket and tightly gripped the handle of his customized pistol.
He made a firm decision to step into the room and change their miserable lives forever.
He would give them the safety and empire they truly deserved.
Suddenly, the violent sound of heavy boots echoed aggressively from the bottom of the narrow stairwell.
Elias immediately stepped back into the pitch-black shadows of the fourth-floor landing.
Three massive men carrying aluminum baseball bats and rusted iron pipes marched loudly up the wooden steps.
They all wore the signature black leather jackets of Cormac Haverin's ruthless street crew.
The leader of the group kicked the broken door of apartment 4C completely off its remaining hinges.
The heavy wood crashed violently onto the thin carpet.
Adeline screamed in pure terror and threw her own body over Leo's fragile frame.
"Your debt is past due, lady," the violent leader growled with a sick, twisted smile.
Elias raised his weapon and confidently stepped into the doorway to execute all three men without a second thought.
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Before his finger could even squeeze the trigger, the cold metal barrel of a suppressed gun pressed directly against the back of his own skull.
"Drop the weapon right now, Elias," a hauntingly familiar voice whispered from the darkness behind him.
