Chapter 5 - The Smell of Almonds
"Alessandro," Marcus said, clearing his throat. "We heard there was an incident in the kitchen. A security breach with the new cook. We should lock down the perimeter immediately."
"The perimeter is fine, Marcus," Alessandro said, turning around slowly. He picked up the cup, swirling the dark liquid inside. "The threat isn't outside the gates. It’s right here. In this room."
The captains exchanged uneasy glances.
"The cook tried to poison my morning espresso," Alessandro explained, walking toward the table. "An elegant method. Digitalis derivative. Colorless. Odorless to most. But if you have a very keen sense of smell... it has a faint scent of sweet almonds."
He stopped right behind Victor, the underboss.
Victor was a mountain of a man, his face scarred from decades of street wars. He looked up at Alessandro, his expression a mask of stoic calm. "A coward's weapon, Don Alessandro. Give me the cook. I'll personally show him what we do to traitors."
"That won't be necessary, Victor," Alessandro said, leaning down until his face was inches from Victor's ear. "Because when my security team searched Danny's locker, they found an encrypted satellite phone. And do you know what the last registered location of that phone’s signal was?"
Victor didn't blink. "I have no idea."
"It was the harbor warehouse," Alessandro whispered. "Your warehouse, Victor. The one where you keep your private import shipments. The same harbor where Sophia’s husband died of an 'accidental' digitalis overdose two years ago after he discovered a crate of unregistered chemicals."
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Victor’s hand subtly drifted toward his jacket pocket.
Before his fingers could even touch the leather, the double doors of the library flew open. Four of Alessandro's elite marksmen entered, their rifles trained directly on Victor’s chest. Marcus, the cousin, instantly pulled his own weapon, aiming it at Victor’s head.
