Chapter 7 - The Commission’s Summons
The black-tinted convoy rolled past the wrought-iron gates of the Chicago Athletic Club, a neutral zone where the city's ruling families settled their disputes.
Audrey adjusted the collar of her newly tailored wool coat, staring out the window at the imposing neoclassical limestone facade.
“Remember,” Joseph muttered, placing a reassuring hand over her clenched fist. “Let me do the talking. You just observe how the predators circle each other.”
“I can handle myself,” Audrey whispered back, lifting her chin as Marcus cut the engine.
Inside the private boardroom, five aging capos sat around a polished walnut table, cigar smoke hanging thick and grey in the air.
Dominic Rossi, the eldest and most ruthless of the remaining syndicate leaders, didn't even bother to stand up as Joseph walked in.
“Salvini,” Dominic rasped, blowing a thick ring of smoke toward the ceiling. “You’ve been making a lot of noise lately. Rail yards, missing shipments, unauthorized blood.”
Joseph pulled out a chair for Audrey before taking a seat himself, his face expressionless.
“The world changes, Dominic,” Joseph said, his voice dangerously low. “Old debts get paid, and new blood takes the throne.”
Dominic’s eyes shifted slowly toward Audrey, a greasy, condescending smile spreading across his wrinkled face.
“And who is this little waitress?” Dominic mocked, leaning forward. “Did you pick up a new hobby on the north side?”
Audrey felt her blood boil, but she remembered Joseph’s warning and kept her expression locked in ice.
“Watch your tongue, Dominic,” Joseph warned, his hand drifting dangerously close to his hidden shoulder holster.
“Or what?” Dominic sneered, standing up to loom over the table. “You’ll start another war over a girl?”
Before Joseph could draw his weapon, Audrey stood up abruptly, her chair scraping loudly against the parquet floor.
“My name is Audrey Salvini,” she said, her voice cutting through the smoky room with absolute clarity. “And if you ever speak to my father that way again, you won't live to see the sunset.”
The room went dead silent.
Dominic stared at her in utter shock before letting out a loud, barking laugh that echoed off the marble walls.
“The bastard had a kid!” Dominic laughed, shaking his head. “Well, little girl, blood doesn't make you a boss.”
“No,” Audrey said, stepping closer to Dominic’s end of the table and slamming the black ledger down onto the wood. “But this ledger proves you’ve been skimming off the port authority for three years, and my father’s enforcers already have your warehouses surrounded.”
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Dominic’s laughter stopped instantly, the color draining from his face as he stared down at the damning financial records.
Joseph looked at his daughter with a mixture of immense pride and chilling realization—she wasn't just surviving in his world; she was already mastering it.
