A Fatal Mistake

The room was silent.

Not the kind of silence that came with peace. No, this was something else. A suffocating, razor-sharp quiet that made even the air feel heavier.

Alessio sat at the head of the long oak table, his presence casting a long shadow over the men gathered before him.

Watching.

None of them dared to speak. His fingers drumming absently against the polished wood, a slow, deliberate r