Chapter 2 - The Shadow on Queens Boulevard
The rain had not let up by the time Sophia finished her shift at midnight.
Alessandro stood on the second-floor balcony, concealed by the darkness, watching her leave through the servants' gate. She wore a faded plastic raincoat, holding a large black umbrella over Emma while letting the icy rain soak her own shoulders. Emma walked beside her, holding her doll tucked safely under her mother's coat, taking two fast steps for every one of Sophia's long, hurried strides.
Moments later, a sleek, unmarked black SUV pulled out from the side alley of the estate, its headlights completely dark.
Alessandro sat in the driver's seat. He didn't use a chauffeur tonight. Tommy Riggs, his chief enforcer, sat in the passenger seat, holding a thick manila folder.
"Bruno Vance," Tommy said, reading from the dossier under the dim glow of a red dashboard light. "Small-time loan shark operating out of a rundown pool hall on 4th Street in Queens. Ex-con, extortionist, works under the fringe of the Marcone family. He preyed on Sophia's late husband—a heavy gambler who died in a hit-and-run six months ago. Bruno marked up the interest by three hundred percent after the funeral."
Alessandro kept his eyes fixed on the distant red tail lights of the city bus Sophia and her daughter had just boarded.
"The Marcones know about this?" Alessandro asked smoothly.
"Doubtful, boss," Tommy replied, shaking his head. "Bruno is a bottom-feeder. He picks on widows, small shop owners, people who can't run to the police or a real boss. He's a parasite."
"A parasite," Alessandro repeated. The word tasted foul on his tongue.
They followed the bus through the wet, slick streets of Long Island, across the bridge, and deep into a drab, crumbling neighborhood in Queens. The buildings here were old gray brick, covered in peeling paint and rust-stained fire escapes. Streetlights flickered yellow over puddles of stagnant oil and water.
The bus pulled up to a corner near a four-story walk-up. Sophia stepped off, holding Emma tightly in her arms now. The little girl's head rested heavily against her mother's shoulder, her eyes half-closed with exhaustion.
Alessandro parked the SUV half a block away under the shadow of an overgrown oak tree. He watched through the rain-streaked windshield as Sophia fumbled with her keys at the rusty front door of the apartment building.
"Stay in the car," Alessandro ordered Tommy.
"Boss?" Tommy looked surprised. "You want me to go up there and clear the building? If Bruno's men are waiting—"
"I said stay," Alessandro’s voice cracked like a whip.
He opened the door and stepped out into the pouring rain. He didn't open an umbrella. The cold water soaked through his charcoal wool coat, but he didn't feel it. He moved like a ghost, crossing the wet asphalt, following the faint yellow light that flickered on inside the fourth-floor window.
He didn't take the elevator. He walked up the dark, creaking stairwell, smelling the damp concrete, trash, and stale food. On the fourth floor, the hallway smelled of copper and ozone.
May you like
Alessandro stopped in front of apartment 4B. The wooden door was warped, the paint peeling away in long strips.
Through a narrow gap between the frame and the floor, a sliver of warm light cut into the hallway. And through the paper-thin walls, Alessandro heard everything.
