The Devil's First Glance (Part 2)

The applause slowly faded, replaced once again by the soft hum of expensive conversations and the clinking of crystal glasses.

Kai slipped backstage, exhaling a quiet sigh of relief.

"That was incredible."

The stage manager gave him a thumbs-up.

"The guests loved it."

Kai smiled sheepishly.

"I'm glad."

"You've got a fifteen-minute break before the next performance."

"Perfect."

His shoulders finally relaxed as he loosened the top button of his shirt.

Playing the piano always calmed him, but performing for hundreds of strangers was another matter entirely.

He reached for a bottle of water when another pianist nudged his shoulder.

"I think someone important was staring at you."

Kai frowned.

"What?"

"The guy in the black suit."

Kai laughed.

"You're imagining things."

"No, seriously. He didn't take his eyes off you the whole performance."

Kai remembered those cold, dark eyes.

The memory sent an inexplicable shiver through him.

"It was probably nothing."

"Maybe."

But the older pianist didn't sound convinced.

Meanwhile...

On the ballroom floor, Lorenzo accepted a glass of whiskey without drinking it.

One of his bodyguards returned.

"We found him."

Lorenzo didn't look away from the crowd.

"Name."

"Kai Bennett."

"Age."

"Twenty-two."

"Occupation."

"Music student. Part-time pianist."

"Family?"

"He lives with his younger sister, Mia Bennett. Parents died three years ago in a car accident."

Another bodyguard approached with a tablet.

"We're still investigating, Boss."

Lorenzo skimmed the screen.

Scholarship student.

No criminal record.

No debts.

No political connections.

No mafia affiliations.

Completely ordinary.

Oddly...

That interested Lorenzo even more.

"Keep looking."

"Boss?"

"I want everything."

The bodyguards exchanged brief glances.

Their boss had ordered background checks before.

On politicians.

Judges.

Enemies.

Never...

A pianist.

Several floors above the ballroom...

Hidden behind elegant mahogany doors...

The real event began.

Only twelve men entered the private conference room.

Each controlled part of the city's criminal empire.

Drugs.

Weapons.

Construction.

Politics.

Money laundering.

Human trafficking.

Everything flowed through them.

Lorenzo sat at the head of the table.

No one questioned why.

No one dared.

A silver-haired man smiled.

"Shall we begin?"

The discussion started calmly.

Shipping routes.

Profits.

Territory.

Votes.

Then...

Ricci spoke.

"I think it's time the De Luca family stopped pretending they're untouchable."

Silence.

Every eye shifted toward Lorenzo.

He remained perfectly still.

"What do you mean?" someone asked.

Ricci smiled.

"I mean exactly what I said."

He slid a folder across the table.

"My associates have better offers."

Lorenzo slowly opened it.

Inside were photographs.

Warehouse locations.

Weapon shipments.

Bank accounts.

Safe houses.

Confidential information belonging exclusively to the De Luca family.

The room became deathly quiet.

Someone had leaked everything.

Lorenzo closed the folder.

"You sold my empire."

Ricci shrugged.

"Business."

"To Romano?"

Another shrug.

"The highest bidder."

No one moved.

No one breathed.

Then Lorenzo stood.

The scrape of his chair echoed through the room.

"You've made a mistake."

Ricci laughed.

"Oh?"

"You assumed betrayal is negotiable."

Before anyone could react...

A suppressed gunshot echoed through the conference room.

Pop.

Ricci's smile froze.

A crimson stain spread across his white dress shirt.

He looked down in disbelief.

Then collapsed.

Dead before he hit the floor.

No one screamed.

No one dared.

Lorenzo calmly returned the silenced pistol to his bodyguard.

"Remove him."

Two guards dragged the body away as though cleaning spilled wine.

Lorenzo looked around the table.

"Anyone else?"

Silence.

Perfect silence.

"Good."

The meeting continued.

Backstage...

Kai checked the time.

He still had several minutes before his next performance.

His stomach growled.

"So much for eating earlier," he muttered.

He decided to find the staff cafeteria.

A young waitress pointed toward a side corridor.

"Take the service elevator."

"Thanks."

Kai smiled gratefully before heading down the hallway.

The hotel seemed much quieter away from the ballroom.

The luxurious carpet muffled his footsteps.

He followed the signs...

Then realized...

He'd taken a wrong turn.

"Huh..."

The corridor became strangely empty.

No hotel staff.

No guests.

Only polished marble floors and heavy wooden doors.

"I definitely shouldn't be here."

He turned to leave.

Then voices echoed from nearby.

"...dispose of the body."

Kai froze.

Body?

Another voice answered.

"The cleaners are already handling it."

His heartbeat quickened.

Maybe...

Maybe they meant something else.

A movie prop?

Kitchen supplies?

He took one cautious step toward the slightly open door.

Curiosity won.

Only for a second.

He looked inside.

And his entire world shattered.

A man lay motionless on the marble floor.

Blood pooled beneath him.

Several men in black suits stood around the body.

One of them...

Slowly removed black leather gloves.

Kai recognized him instantly.

The man from the ballroom.

The one who had watched him play.

Lorenzo De Luca.

Kai's breath caught.

No.

No, this couldn't be real.

This had to be...

A prank.

A film.

Anything.

Then one of the guards spoke.

"The bullet entered cleanly."

Kai's stomach lurched.

Bullet.

Real.

It was real.

His fingers trembled against the doorframe.

He needed to leave.

Now.

Very slowly...

He stepped backward.

The polished sole of his dress shoe met the edge of a decorative bronze vase.

Clink.

The sound was tiny.

Barely audible.

But inside the room...

Every head turned.

Kai stopped breathing.

Lorenzo looked directly toward the doorway.

Their eyes met once again.

Only this time...

Kai knew exactly what kind of man he was looking at.

Not a businessman.

Not a guest.

A killer.

Fear exploded through his body.

He turned and ran.

"Kai!"

Someone shouted behind him.

His name.

How did they know his name?

Footsteps thundered after him.

His lungs burned as he sprinted through unfamiliar hallways.

Left.

Right.

Another corner.

He nearly collided with a waiter.

"Sorry!"

The tray crashed behind him.

People shouted.

He didn't stop.

He couldn't.

All he could think was—

Run.

Back in the conference room, one of Lorenzo's men drew his weapon.

"Boss, should we—"

"No."

Lorenzo's voice remained unnervingly calm.

"I'll handle this."

"But he saw—"

"I know what he saw."

Another guard stepped forward.

"We can't let him leave."

Lorenzo stared at the open doorway where Kai had disappeared.

His expression revealed nothing.

But his mind was already calculating.

A civilian witness.

Young.

Innocent.

No connections.

He had seen far too much.

There was only one logical solution.

Eliminate him before he spoke to anyone.

It was how Lorenzo had survived for twelve years.

No witnesses.

No loose ends.

Yet...

Those frightened blue-gray eyes flashed through his mind.

The trembling pianist.

The music.

The quiet smile.

The dreamer who had unknowingly wandered into hell.

Lorenzo closed his eyes for a single heartbeat.

Then he made the first irrational decision of his entire career.

"Don't shoot."

The room fell silent.

His men stared.

"...Boss?"

Lorenzo opened his eyes again.

This time, there was something dangerous in them.

Not anger.

Not mercy.

Something neither he nor his men could name.

"Bring him to me."

Every man in the room understood the order.

Kai Bennett was no longer just a witness.

He had become someone the Devil wanted alive.

And in Lorenzo De Luca's world...

Being wanted by the Devil was often more terrifying than being marked for death.