Look Inside: The Last Journal of Bellini
Prologue
Florence, Italy
Thirty Years Earlier
The rain fell heavily against the windows as Bellini hurried through the silent bookstore.
His hands trembled.
Not from age.
Not from fear.
From urgency.
The old journal lay open before him.
Its pages were filled with names, dates, sketches, and secrets that should never have existed.
Secrets powerful enough to destroy lives.
Secrets powerful enough to change history.
A clock chimed somewhere in the distance.
Midnight.
Bellini looked toward the front door.
They were coming.
He could feel it.
For months he had sensed someone watching him.
Waiting.
Searching.
And now there was no more time.
Carefully, he removed several loose pages from the journal and folded them inside a leather envelope.
Then he slipped the envelope behind a hidden panel concealed deep within the bookstore.
Only one, person would ever know where to find it.
Only one.
His gaze returned to the journal.
Slowly, he wrote a final entry.
If you are reading this, then fate has already chosen you.
Trust no one.
Not even me.
Bellini closed the journal.
Outside, footsteps approached through the rain.
The bell above the bookstore door began to ring.
