Chapter 12: Under Threat

Inside the car, the air was heavy, thick with suffocating tension. I sat stiffly, trapped between two men, my clammy hands trembling on my lap. The one on my left calmly toyed with a firearm, spinning the cylinder with an exasperating slowness.

I couldn't stop stealing glances at him out of the corner of my eye, my heart pounding so hard it felt like my captors could hear it. The other man, seated in the front, was trying to make a call on his phone, his fingers tapping nervously at the screen.

"Why isn't he answering?" the one in the front growled, throwing a furious glance at his companion.

"Relax. We have our orders. We do what we were told and get out."

"You sure Valenti didn't see this coming?" asked the man beside me, his rough voice accompanied by a smug grin.

"He might be powerful, but he's not invincible. This time, we're hitting him where it hurts."