Alessandro’s POV)
The night air over the port was thick and cold, heavy with the smell of diesel, stagnant water, and the faint, briny tang of Lake Michigan. Darkness was a shroud over the decaying industrial landscape, a labyrinth of rusted shipping containers and skeletal cranes. Here, in the forgotten corners of my city, my brother had chosen to build his nest.
I lay prone on the gravel rooftop of a derelict warehouse, a high-powered rifle resting on its bipod before me. It wasn't my primary weapon for the night, but it was my eyes. Through the thermal scope, the world was a stark painting of heat and shadow. My team, a handpicked unit of six of my best soldiers, were ghosts in that painting, moving with a fluid silence that was the product of years of training and absolute loyalty. W
