Chapter 2 - THE SOUND OF BROKEN BONE
The diner went dead silent.
Even the hum of the old refrigerator ceased.
The leader of the three men grinned up at Matteo.
He didn't know the face.
He didn't know the jacket.
He only saw a thin, quiet man in a charcoal coat.
“Back off, old man,” the leader sneered.
Matteo didn't blink.
His gray eyes remained entirely flat.
“You touched her shirt,” Matteo said softly.
“Yeah, I did. What’s it to—?”
The movement was too fast for the eye to follow.
Matteo’s right hand shot forward.
He gripped the leader’s wrist with iron precision.
A sickening pop echoed through booth seven.
The man screamed.
High.
Thin.
Terrified.
His friends scrambled to stand.
The heavy one reached inside his leather jacket.
Before his fingers touched steel, Matteo drove his left elbow into the heavy man's jaw.
Teastained mugs shattered on the laminate floor.
The heavy man collapsed like a felled oak.
The youngest kid froze in absolute horror.
His hands shook as he raised them halfway.
“Don't,” Matteo whispered.
The kid dropped back into the vinyl booth, gasping for air.
Matteo turned his attention back to the leader.
The man was clutching his broken wrist, sobbing on the floor.
Matteo leaned down slowly.
“Tell your boss on the north side,” Matteo murmured, his voice like grinding ice.
“Tell Dante Moretti that Matteo is retired.”
“And if anyone looks at my wife again...”
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Matteo didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
