Chapter 5 - The Gathering of the Wolves
The High Table of the New York syndicates met in the basement of an old, abandoned bank in the Financial District—a place where the walls were three feet of solid concrete and wiretappers couldn't reach.
I wasn't supposed to be there, but Roman refused to leave me at the penthouse without him. I sat in a heavily guarded anteroom just down the hall, wrapped in a thick wool shawl, with Marcus standing guard at my door with a loaded submachine gun.
Through the heavy oak doors of the main boardroom, I could hear the muffled sounds of angry voices.
The five families of New York had gathered, and Vivienne Kane had taken her seat at the head of the table, claiming she was representing the Kane legacy in the absence of a "stable leader."
"He has lost his mind!" Vivienne's voice cut through the heavy wood. "He is letting a common girl from the streets dictate the future of our organization! He threatens his own blood for a woman who brings nothing to our table!"
Then, the heavy doors swung open.
Roman walked in, his footsteps echoing like gunshots in the silent room. He didn't look at his mother. He walked straight to the opposite end of the long mahogany table, tossing a heavy, leather-bound folder onto the center of the wood.
"That folder contains the original, unedited testament of Arthur Kane," Roman announced, his voice vibrating with absolute authority. "Certified by three independent forensic accountants and witnessed by the family's senior counsel before his sudden 'disappearance' last night."
The older Dons at the table—men who had bled with Roman's father decades ago—frowned and reached for the documents.
"What is the meaning of this, Roman?" Don Carmine of the Lucchesi family asked, adjusting his reading glasses.
"The meaning is that for the last five years, my mother has been committing treason against the Kane bloodline," Roman stated calmly, leaning his hands on the table. "She suppressed my father's final directive because she couldn't stomach the thought of losing control."
As the older men read the pages, the atmosphere in the room completely shifted. The murmurs turned into a heavy, suffocating silence.
"Arthur left the entire estate, the shipping lines, the real estate holding firms, and the seat on this Commission... to Roman's firstborn daughter," Don Carmine read aloud, his voice tinged with disbelief.
Vivienne stood up, her chair screeching against the floor. "It's a forgery! Roman fabricated it to usurp my power!"
"The lawyer who authenticated that document is currently in my custody," Roman countered, his eyes locked on his mother. "He has already given a recorded confession detailing exactly how you threatened his family to lock that will in your private safe. He also detailed how you ordered your men to throw my pregnant wife into a storm to induce a miscarriage, hoping to destroy the heir before she could be born."
A collective gasp went around the room. Even in the mafia, putting a hit or causing intentional harm to a heavily pregnant woman carrying a confirmed bloodline heir was an unforgivable sin. It was a violation of the old codes.
Don Carmine looked up from the papers, his expression hardening as he looked at Vivienne. "Vivienne... is this true? Did you put hands on the child of the lineage?"
Vivienne opened her mouth to lie, but her pale face and trembling hands betrayed her to the room of seasoned predators. They could smell weakness from a mile away.
"She is a girl from Queens!" Vivienne hissed, abandoning her elegant persona completely. "She is nothing! Her mother works in a pharmacy!"
Roman smiled, but it was the smile of a wolf watching its prey walk into a trap.
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"That girl from Queens is the mother of the future head of this family," Roman said, his voice dropping to a deadly register. "And as of this moment, anyone who supports Vivienne Kane is officially an enemy of the Kane syndicate. Choose your sides now, gentlemen."
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