Chapter 6 - Blood and BlueprintsThe warehouse exploded into shouting.
Two of the capos lunged toward the exit, but Marcus Thorne and four armed enforcers blocked the metal doors instantly, their handguns drawn and leveled with terrifying precision.
"Sit down!" Marcus bellowed, his voice echoing through the rafters.
Dominic didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to. He pulled a silver cigarette case from his pocket, extracted a Turkish cigarette, and lit it with a heavy brass lighter. The flame cast a harsh, amber glow across his sharp cheekbones.
"Sal," Dominic said, blowing a thin stream of gray smoke toward the ceiling. "You've been with us for twenty-five years. My father trusted you."
Sal Marino swallowed hard, his face pale and slick with sweat. He didn't look at the gun in Marcus's hand. He looked straight into Dominic’s cold gray eyes.
"Vance approached me six months ago, Dominic," Sal confessed, his voice rough and defeated. "He said you were losing your edge. He said you spent too much time protecting old properties like your mother’s diner instead of expanding the territory. He said the Rinaldi family was dying."
"And so you decided to help him murder it?" Dominic asked softly.
"I wanted to survive," Sal whispered.
Dominic stared at him for a long, agonizing moment. Then, slowly, he shook his head.
"Survival isn't something you steal from a woman working a double shift to pay for her mother's cancer treatment," Dominic said.
He looked at Marcus. "Take Sal and the other two traitors to the West End docks. Drop them at Victor Vance’s front gate with a message."
"What message, Boss?" Marcus asked.
May you like
Dominic took one last drag of his cigarette and dropped it onto the concrete, grinding it out beneath the heel of his Italian leather shoe.
"Tell Victor that the Rinaldi empire is no longer for sale. And tonight... we collect."
