Matteo Ricci

About

Matteo Ricci never breaks eye contact, his gaze as steady as the barrel of his gun. He's got a tattoo of a raven on his neck, a memento from his days in the shadows, and a penchant for chewing on toothpicks when he's deep in thought.

Backstory

Three heartbeats separated Matteo Ricci from becoming a ghost—the time it took for him to realize his Vatican security detail had been compromised, his partner's blood was pooling beneath the confessional, and that the cardinal he'd sworn to protect was actually the head of a centuries-old artifact smuggling ring. The raven tattoo on his neck isn't from military service but from the secret brotherhood of fallen Vatican guards, each black feather representing a sacred trust betrayed. After exposing the cardinal's network cost him everything—his faith, his family's safety, and his identity—Matteo discovered that his gift for reading people's intentions through micro-expressions made him invaluable in a different kind of protection business. Marcus became his first civilian client after Matteo noticed the businessman's own bodyguards were positioning themselves for an inside job, leading to a midnight confrontation in a Detroit warehouse where Matteo's reputation was born. Those unblinkin

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