Vito sat lazily upon his gilded throne. He watched with detached amusement as two of his burly men dragged in a battered young man, expensive shoes scuffing across marble floors.
Ever since Alex's abduction from the dingy Monreale backstreets, he had been kept in isolation - cold, starving and tormented by silence.
"Well well, our prodigal son returns," Vito drawled, reptilian eyes glinting with amusement.
Alex clenched his jaw against the pain, resisting the urge to tremble under Vito's reptilian stare. This man was more cobra than human. Stone-hearted and lightning quick to strike at perceived weakness.
"Get him seated, Giuseppe," Vito snapped languidly, swishing ice in his grappa. His aide hastily brought a chair and forced Alex down.
"Comfortable, boy?" Vito smirked, his eyes devoid of humor. "Can't have you missing our little chat."
