Chapter 24
On a dreary, drizzling Friday afternoon, as Maya was cleaning the display cases and preparing to close Sweet Haven Bakery, a stranger pushed the door open. The wind chimes rang with a hollow clatter. The man wore a faded, worn-out black leather jacket. His gaunt, pale face and dark-ringed eyes exuded a sinister, desperate aura. He didn't even glance at the tempting trays of pastries, striding purposefully toward the cash register.
"Miss Bennett," he rasped, deliberately reading her brass name tag slowly. "A very beautiful, very cozy bakery. It would be a terrible shame if, one night, the ovens here accidentally exploded due to a gas leak, burning this lovely little establishment to the ground."
Maya froze. Her heart skipped a beat, but her hand gripped the cleaning cloth tightly to control her trembling. She discreetly observed him and noticed a small tattoo on his wrist—a snake wrapped around a dagger. It was the symbol of a proxy gang that used to handle dirty work under the traitor Luca. Matteo was currently standing outside on the street taking a business call, unaware of the immediate threat inside.
May you like
"What do you want?" Maya kept her voice perfectly level, her brown eyes locking fiercely onto his face, revealing none of the terror he had expected.
The man sneered with a sinister grin. "Tell Dante Russo that Luca’s brothers do not easily forget a grudge while our boss rots in a federal cell. We want thirty percent of the profits from the South Docks. If we don't get a satisfactory answer, this bakery and that little brat Sophia will be the next targets." With that, he tossed a rusted coin onto the marble counter—a chilling, metallic clatter—turned his back, and quickly vanished into the crowd before Matteo could notice the anomaly.
