Chapter 2 - The Crimson LedgerTwenty minutes later, the private medical suite behind the Astor Room was bathed in sterile fluorescent light. Dr. Marcus Vance—the syndicate’s trusted trauma surgeon—cut away the navy silk of my custom evening gown with a pair of surgical shears, revealing the tight, clinical white athletic tape binding my torso.
Dominic stood in the corner of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes fixed on the bruises that bloomed across my skin in violent shades of purple, green, and deep black.
"Three fractured ribs," Dr. Vance announced quietly, pressing a stethoscope against my back. "And a hairline fracture on the fourth. She’s lucky a splintered bone didn't puncture her right lung. How she danced a full waltz under this compression without collapsing is a miracle of sheer willpower."
"She won't be dancing anymore tonight," Dominic said, his voice devoid of all warmth. "Patch her up, Marcus. Give her whatever she needs for the pain."
As the doctor applied a fresh, professional medical wrap and administered a strong analgesic injection into my shoulder, the heavy door swung open.
Matteo pushed Vincent Falcone into the room.
Vincent—thirty-two, handsome, slicked-back dark hair, wearing a custom white dinner jacket—stumbled forward, his face flushed with alcohol and nervous panic. "What is the meaning of this?! Dominic, are you out of your mind?! You had your goons grab me in front of the mayor—"
CRASH!
Dominic crossed the room in a fraction of a second, his fist connecting squarely with Vincent’s jaw. The sound of bone meeting bone echoed off the tiled walls. Vincent crashed against the medical supply cabinet, sending stainless steel trays clattering to the floor, before sliding down into a heap, clutching his bleeding mouth.
"You touch your brother again, and you'll lose teeth!" Vincent sputtered, wiping blood from his lip, his eyes wide with terror as he looked up at Dominic.
"You touched my wife," Dominic growled, standing over him like an executioner. He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out the small micro-SD card I had retrieved from my evening bag, and tossed it onto Vincent’s chest. "You had your men beat a woman half to death inside a Falcone-controlled warehouse. And for what? To hide three million dollars in kickbacks from the Cali cartel?"
Vincent’s face drained of every drop of color. He looked from Dominic to me, sitting upright on the medical examination table. "She... she was snooping! She had no business being in the administrative wing—"
"She is the Donna of this syndicate," Dominic interrupted, his voice dropping into a lethal hiss. "Every inch of property, every container, and every ledger belongs to her just as much as it belongs to me. And you laid hands on her."
"Dominic, listen to me," Vincent stammered, scrambling backward on the floor. "The Cali deal... it was to expand our shipping channels! It was for the family—!"
"It was for your offshore accounts in the Caymans," I spoke up, sliding off the examination table, ignoring the residual ache in my side as I stood tall beside my husband. "I decrypted your private terminal files, Vincent. You’ve been selling our maritime security routes to our competitors for six months, planning to stage a coup against Dominic once the council elections concluded."
Vincent’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He realized then that there was no way out. The web he had woven had finally tightened around his own neck.
Dominic looked down at his brother with a cold, absolute disgust that was far more damaging than any physical blow.
"Matteo," Dominic called out.
"Boss?"
"Take him to the sub-level bunker at the main estate. Strip him of his keys, his accounts, and his title. Lock him in the dark until sunrise. Tomorrow morning, we call a full tribunal of the five families. We present the ledger. And then we vote on his execution."
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Vincent shrieked, clawing at Matteo’s boots as the young lieutenant pulled him up by his collar. "Dominic! You can't kill your own blood! Mother would never—!"
"Mother died knowing you were a coward," Dominic cut him off flatly. "Get him out of my sight."
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