Chapter 8 - The Price of Becoming CleanDominic Russo announced his retirement from organized crime on a Thursday.
Nobody believed him.
Sadi almost didn’t.
They sat in the study at two in the morning while accountants spread documents across the desk.
Shipping.
Construction.
Restaurants.
Real estate.
Union interests.
Some legitimate.
Some not.
Dominic had spent fifteen years making the distinction deliberately difficult.
Now he intended to separate them.
“It’ll cost hundreds of millions,” his attorney said.
Dominic poured coffee.
“Then it costs hundreds of millions.”
“You’ll lose influence.”
“Good.”
“Protection.”
“I have guns.”
Sadi raised an eyebrow.
Dominic sighed.
“Legal guns.”
The attorney looked at Sadi.
She smiled.
“He’s evolving.”
It was not morality alone driving Dominic.
It was survival.
The ledgers had exposed political accounts still being used by Gabriel.
Federal investigators could dismantle half the network.
Dominic had a choice.
Fight.
Run.
Or cooperate selectively while converting the Russo empire into legitimate businesses.
The decision divided his men.
Frank opposed it.
Others feared losing income.
Some simply could not imagine another life.
At a meeting, one captain slammed his hand down.
“You expect us to become businessmen?”
Dominic stared.
“What do you think you are now?”
“Not accountants.”
“Then learn Excel.”
Sadi laughed.
Nobody else dared.
The transition became brutal.
Not because people were shooting.
Because people had mortgages.
Families.
Employees.
Habits.
Crime, Sadi discovered, was often less cinematic than desperation.
A driver who had transported illegal cargo for fifteen years did not suddenly become employable because Dominic found a conscience.
So Sadi built something.
A transition fund.
Training.
Legitimate positions in Russo shipping and construction.
She hired compliance officers.
Dominic hated them.
Sadi hired more.
“You’re turning my organization into a corporation,” he complained.
“That’s the idea.”
“I have meetings about workplace harassment now.”
“You sound traumatized.”
“I’d rather get shot.”
“HR would like to discuss that attitude.”
Rosa nearly choked on her tea laughing.
For several weeks, something resembling normal life emerged.
Sadi and Dominic ate dinner together.
Evan moved into an apartment downtown but visited regularly.
Leo recovered.
The federal investigation into Gabriel expanded quietly.
Sadi began believing they might actually survive.
Then Frank disappeared.
Twenty-four hours later, Dominic received a video.
Frank sat tied to a chair.
Gabriel stood behind him.
He was seventy.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
He looked disturbingly like Dominic.
“Blood is repetitive,” Gabriel said into the camera.
Dominic watched without moving.
Gabriel smiled.
“You can pretend to become legitimate, nephew. But men like us do not retire.”
He placed a gun against Frank’s head.
“Bring me the ledgers.”
The video ended.
Sadi looked at Dominic.
“No.”
He turned.
“We don’t know where he is.”
“He’ll contact us.”
“And when he does?”
“We don’t give him the ledgers.”
Dominic stared.
“He’ll kill Frank.”
“He might kill Frank anyway.”
“You want me to sacrifice one of my men?”
Sadi flinched.
“No.”
“That’s what you’re saying.”
“I’m saying Gabriel wants you to become your father.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“Don’t.”
“He’s forcing you into the old rules. Loyalty. Blood. Revenge. One life against everything.”
“He has Frank.”
“And he wants all of us.”
Dominic walked away.
Sadi followed.
“Listen to me.”
“I am listening.”
“No, you’re preparing for war.”
“He kidnapped my man.”
“And the police?”
Dominic laughed.
“You want me to call the police?”
“Yes.”
“Sadi.”
“You said you wanted out.”
“That doesn’t mean I become stupid.”
“It means you stop acting like law only applies to other people.”
Dominic turned.
Anger flashed between them.
Then his phone rang.
Gabriel.
Dominic answered.
“Where?”
Gabriel gave an address.
An abandoned hotel near the river.
Midnight.
Ledgers for Frank.
“No police,” Gabriel added.
Dominic ended the call.
Sadi saw the decision in his face.
“You’re going.”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m coming.”
“No.”
She laughed.
“We’re really doing this again?”
“This time you’re not bait.”
“No. This time I’m your wife.”
“Sadi—”
“And Gabriel is my uncle.”
That stopped him.
“He murdered my parents. He stole my brother. This is my war too.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“I’m so tired of being afraid for you.”
Sadi’s anger disappeared.
She touched his face.
“I know.”
“I can’t think when you’re in danger.”
“Then stop thinking of me as something you can lose.”
His eyes opened.
“What?”
“I’m not a possession.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?”
She pressed her forehead against his.
“You love like everything is temporary. Like if you hold tight enough, death won’t notice.”
Dominic’s breathing changed.
Sadi whispered:
“But I’m already here.”
He wrapped his arms around her.
“I love you.”
The words came unexpectedly.
Neither had said them.
Not directly.
Sadi went still.
Dominic looked almost angry at himself.
“I love you.”
He repeated it.
“I have since the night you stood in that museum and told Lorenzo his aim was bad.”
Sadi laughed through sudden tears.
“That’s deeply unhealthy.”
“I’m not a healthy man.”
“No.”
She kissed him.
“But you’re improving.”
Midnight came.
They went together.
But not alone.
And not under Dominic’s old rules.
Federal agents surrounded the area.
It had taken every ounce of Dominic’s self-control to accept it.
The abandoned hotel smelled of mold.
Dominic wore a wire.
Sadi did too.
They entered through the lobby.
Gabriel waited in the ballroom.
Frank sat bound near the stage.
Alive.
Evan stood beside him.
Sadi stopped.
“Evan?”
Her brother would not meet her eyes.
Gabriel smiled.
“Family reunion.”
Dominic’s hand moved toward his weapon.
Three laser sights appeared across his chest.
“Careful.”
Gabriel approached.
Sadi stared at Evan.
“You betrayed us.”
Evan’s eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
Gabriel answered.
“Because I raised him.”
Evan whispered, “He’s my father.”
Sadi froze.
Gabriel smiled.
“Not biologically. But what is biology compared to twenty years?”
Sadi looked at her brother.
He was shaking.
“You don’t owe him your soul because he fed you.”
Evan’s jaw clenched.
“You don’t understand.”
“Yes, I do.”
She looked at Dominic.
“I married into the family that murdered our parents.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Exactly.”
Sadi turned back to Evan.
“And I learned something.”
“What?”
“Family is not who hurts you and then demands loyalty because they were there first.”
Gabriel’s smile disappeared.
Sadi continued.
“Family is who lets you choose.”
Evan looked at Gabriel.
Then at her.
Gabriel raised his gun.
Evan moved.
He slammed into Gabriel.
Gunfire erupted.
Dominic threw Sadi behind a pillar.
Federal agents stormed the building.
Frank knocked his chair sideways.
Leo entered from the rear corridor.
Gabriel fired blindly.
Evan screamed.
Sadi saw him fall.
“Evan!”
She ran.
Dominic shouted her name.
Sadi reached her brother.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Alive.
Gabriel fled toward the service corridor.
Dominic followed.
Sadi grabbed his jacket.
“No.”
“He’ll escape.”
“Let them take him.”
Dominic stared toward the corridor.
Every instinct in him demanded pursuit.
Revenge.
Blood.
His father’s inheritance.
Then Dominic looked at Sadi.
He lowered his gun.
Seconds later, agents tackled Gabriel in the parking garage.
No execution.
No body.
No ledger settled in blood.
Gabriel Vale left the building in handcuffs.
Dominic watched from the steps.
Sadi stood beside him.
“How does it feel?” she asked.
“Unsatisfying.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
He looked at her.
“Good?”
“Means you’re changing.”
Dominic wrapped his coat around her.
Ambulances illuminated the street.
Evan was alive.
Frank was alive.
Gabriel would stand trial.
May you like
Sadi rested her head against Dominic.
For once, nobody had needed to die for them to win.
