BETROTHED TO THE CRAZY DON
His heartbeat thundered in his ears as he followed the cries toward his father's study.
The heavy oak door stood wide open.
He stopped at the threshold.
The color drained from his face.
For a long moment...
He forgot how to breathe.
The study looked as though violence itself had swept through it.
Books lay torn from their shelves, their pages fluttering across the floor as the cold morning breeze drifted through the shattered window. The heavy mahogany desk rested on its side, one broken leg splintered beneath its weight. Drawers hung open like wounded mouths, their contents scattered across the marble contracts, ledgers, family photographs, all trampled beneath hurried footsteps.