Heads on a Silver Platter

The heavy mahogany doors of the Marchesi estate clicked shut. Valerio stepped onto the polished marble of the grand foyer, the silence of the sprawling mansion wrapping around him for barely a second.

"Valerio, is that you?"

"One, two, three," Valerio murmured under his breath. He watched the maid scurry away with his coat. Right on cue, the sharp, rhythmic clack of stilettos echoed down the s