Chapter 6 - No More Kings
Three days later, every captain in Dominic’s organization gathered at the Foundry.
Sadi watched from the empty upper balcony.
Dominic stood below.
Nox beside him.
Marco on the other side.
A heavyset captain named Salvatore Russo stepped forward.
“You brought federal agents into our world.”
Dominic shook his head.
“I brought federal agents into theirs.”
“You handed them records.”
“Of traffickers.”
Salvatore scoffed.
“You think cops care about the difference?”
Dominic looked around the room.
“Maybe not.”
Murmurs spread.
“But I do.”
Salvatore stared.
“You’re putting a woman above the family.”
Dominic’s voice sharpened.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Make this about her because you’re too afraid to admit what it’s actually about.”
Several men shifted.
Dominic continued.
“For years we tolerated the Black Crown because they were profitable.”
Nobody answered.
“They bought people. Sold people. Used kids.”
Salvatore looked away.
Dominic pointed at him.
“You knew.”
“Everybody knew rumors.”
“You knew.”
Silence.
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“And we called ourselves men of honor.”
Sadi watched from above.
This wasn’t the Dominic who had mocked her beside the cage.
That man had believed power meant never bending.
This man looked ready to break his own throne.
Dominic removed his ring.
He placed it on the table.
“If being boss requires pretending there are no lines, I’m done.”
Marco stared.
“Dominic.”
“You heard me.”
Salvatore smiled.
“You’re stepping down?”
“I’m changing the business.”
Laughter erupted.
Dominic waited until it stopped.
“No more street loans designed to trap desperate families.”
Several captains protested.
“No more protection money from neighborhood businesses.”
The protests grew louder.
“No more partnerships with organizations that traffic people, weapons to minors, or narcotics through schools.”
Salvatore slammed his hand down.
“You’ll bankrupt us.”
Dominic looked at him.
“No.”
He pointed toward Marco.
“Show them.”
Screens lit up.
Property holdings.
Restaurants.
Freight companies.
Construction contracts.
Nightclubs.
Legal gaming investments in other states.
Dominic continued.
“Over the last seven years, I’ve moved sixty-eight percent of our income into legal businesses.”
Salvatore stared at the numbers.
“You planned this?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Dominic looked toward Sadi on the balcony.
“Longer than I understood why.”
Sadi slowly descended the stairs.
Salvatore pointed at her.
“And what is she now? Your queen?”
Sadi stopped beside Dominic.
“No.”
Salvatore laughed.
“She speaks.”
Sadi met his gaze.
“I’m the waitress who beat your undefeated champion.”
Nox coughed.
“Must we keep saying this?”
A few men laughed.
Even Marco smiled.
Sadi continued.
“I don’t want your organization.”
She looked around the room.
“And I definitely don’t want to be your queen.”
Dominic whispered, “Good.”
She glanced at him.
“What?”
“I hate crowns.”
“You literally run a criminal family.”
“I contain multitudes.”
Sadi tried not to smile.
Salvatore looked disgusted.
“This is a joke.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No. The joke was me thinking fear was the same thing as loyalty.”
He looked at his captains.
“Anyone who wants out can leave today. Keep your legitimate investments. No retaliation.”
Silence.
“Anyone who stays follows the new rules.”
One captain raised his hand slightly.
“What happens to the illegal side?”
“We close what can be closed.”
“And what can’t?”
“Gets sold off or dismantled.”
Salvatore laughed.
“You’re killing your own empire.”
Dominic nodded.
“Yes.”
That silenced everyone.
Salvatore walked toward him.
“You’d throw away everything your father built?”
Dominic looked at him.
“My father built a cage.”
His eyes shifted toward Sadi.
“I’m finally opening the door.”
Salvatore left.
Six captains followed.
Nine stayed.
Marco exhaled.
“Well.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Well what?”
“I suppose retirement is no longer an option.”
“You’ve threatened to retire every Monday for eleven years.”
“And one day I’ll mean it.”
The room slowly emptied.
Sadi remained beside Dominic.
Nox approached.
“You still owe her.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
Nox smiled.
“Marriage.”
Sadi pointed at him.
“Don’t encourage him.”
“You won fair.”
Dominic looked at her.
“He has a point.”
“No.”
“Dinner?”
“We already had dinner.”
“It ended with gunfire.”
“Exactly.”
“Breakfast?”
“No.”
“Coffee?”
Sadi hesitated.
Dominic noticed.
“Coffee?”
“Maybe.”
He smiled.
She held up one finger.
“One coffee.”
“That’s how empires begin.”
Sadi shook her head.
“You just destroyed yours.”
Dominic looked around the Foundry.
“No.”
His gaze returned to her.
May you like
“I think I finally stopped needing one.”
---
