Chapter 10 - The New Syndicate
Dawn broke over the city, casting a harsh, pale light over the skyline.
Lorenzo sat at the head of a massive mahogany table in a secure boardroom downtown. The room was filled with the six remaining capos of his organization. They sat in nervous silence, exchanging terrified glances. Word had already spread through the underground like wildfire.
Julian Rossi was dead. Isabella Rossi was missing. An entire squad of New York hitmen had vanished into thin air.
The doors to the boardroom opened. Sofia walked in, dressed no longer in a maid's uniform, but in a sharply tailored charcoal suit. She carried a leather briefcase, placing it on the table before taking the seat directly to Lorenzo’s right—the seat that had belonged to Julian just yesterday.
"Gentlemen," Lorenzo said, his voice carrying the absolute, unquestionable authority of a king who had survived an assassination attempt. "Last night, a tumor was cut out of this family. It was painful, it was bloody, but the body has survived. We are stronger for it."
He gestured to Sofia.
"This is Sofia. She is my new right hand. Her word is my word. You cross her, you cross me."
The capos nodded vigorously, none daring to question the sudden rise of the unknown woman.
"Furthermore," Lorenzo continued, leaning forward, resting his hands on the polished wood. "Julian believed I was getting weak in my old age. He believed I was ready to surrender to New York. He was wrong. New York sponsored a hit on my home. They broke the treaty."
Sofia opened the briefcase, pulling out a stack of folders, sliding one to each capo. They contained the addresses, routines, and vulnerabilities of every major player in the rival New York families.
"We are not retiring, gentlemen," Lorenzo said, a cold, predatory smile playing on his lips. "We are going to war. And by the end of the month, this city won't just belong to us. The entire East Coast will."
He stood up, buttoning his suit jacket.
"Dismissed."
As the men scrambled out of the room, eager to prove their loyalty, Sofia remained seated. She looked up at Lorenzo, a quiet respect in her dark eyes.
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"You didn't have to promote me," she said. "I would have taken my payment and disappeared."
"In this business, you don't buy loyalty with cash, Sofia," Lorenzo said, looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the sprawling city below. "You forge it in blood. You saved my life. Now, help me burn this city to the ground."
