The morning light struggled to break through the heavy clouds hanging over the city. Tall buildings disappeared into the gray sky, and the streets below buzzed with noise—cars honking, people shouting, sirens crying in the distance.
Eli sat at his desk near the wide glass window of the office building. From this height, the city looked smaller, almost harmless. He liked it that way. Being above the chaos made him feel safe, as if nothing could reach him up here.
At twenty-seven, Eli was already working as a senior project analyst at one of the fastest-growing tech companies in the city. It wasn't easy getting here, but he had earned it through years of discipline and quiet ambition. He preferred order. Predictable days. A life he could control.
He lifted his coffee mug and took a slow sip. Bitter. Strong. Just how he liked it.
"Eli, are you ready for the meeting?"
Sandra, his assistant, stood by the glass door, her voice light but cautious. She always seemed cheerful, even on gloomy mornings like this.
"Almost," Eli replied calmly. "Anything important in the news today?"
Sandra hesitated before answering. "Another mafia attack in the East District. Same pattern as the last two. People are starting to panic."
Eli's fingers tightened slightly around his mug.
"That's far from here," he said, keeping his voice steady. "It won't affect us."
Sandra didn't look convinced. "That's what people said last time."
He forced a small smile. "I'll be fine."
She nodded slowly and left.
When the door closed, Eli turned back to the window. The city no longer looked harmless. Something dark was spreading through it—quiet, patient, waiting.
Throughout the day, Eli moved from one meeting to another. Reports. Numbers. Projections. His coworkers spoke confidently, but tension sat beneath every conversation. The mafia violence was impossible to ignore now. Businesses were nervous. Investors were watching closely.
Still, Eli did his job well. He always did.
By late afternoon, exhaustion settled into his bones. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, his thoughts drifting despite himself.
Why does it feel like something is coming?
The answer came uninvited.
A name.
Leonardo Moretti.
The most feared mafia boss in the city.
People said he was cruel, heartless, and impossible to read. A man who destroyed lives without hesitation. A man who believed love was useless—only control mattered. Pleasure, power, obedience. Nothing more.
Eli had never seen him. Never met him.
Yet the name alone made his chest feel tight.
"Get a grip," Eli muttered under his breath.
Leonardo Moretti belonged to a world far removed from his own—a world of blood, shadows, and broken rules. Eli lived by schedules and logic. They would never cross paths.
Or so he believed.
"Eli, we're heading out."
Sandra's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
He grabbed his coat and followed her into the elevator. As it descended, the hum of the cables filled the silence. Eli watched his reflection in the metal walls. Calm face. Controlled expression. No sign of the strange unease crawling under his skin.
When the doors opened, the city swallowed him whole.
The streets were loud and crowded, neon lights flickering as dusk fell. Eli walked among strangers, unaware that somewhere in the same city, a pair of sharp eyes would soon notice him.
Once noticed, he would never be ordinary again.
Eli didn't know it yet, but this so-called ordinary morning was the last one he would ever have.