Chapter 8 - The Price of the EmpireNew York greeted them with rain.
By the time Dominic’s aircraft landed at Teterboro, every major television network was reporting rumors of an imminent federal investigation into organized crime, port corruption, and political bribery.
No documents had been published.
Not yet.
But someone was leaking enough information to create panic.
Matteo.
He was tightening the rope before pulling it.
Inside the armored vehicle, Elias read updates from three phones.
“Two state senators cancelled public appearances. A deputy police commissioner has retained criminal counsel.”
Dominic looked out the window.
“And the commission?”
“Demanding a meeting.”
“Of course.”
Harper sat beside him.
“What happens if Matteo releases Gabriel’s files?”
“Depends what is inside them.”
“Worst case.”
Dominic finally looked at her.
“Federal indictments. Seizures. Political collapse. Several families destroyed.”
“Yours?”
“Possibly.”
Harper studied his face.
He did not appear frightened for himself.
“What are you thinking?”
“That my father killed a prosecutor to protect this organization.”
“Dominic.”
“And then raised the prosecutor’s son to lead it.”
His smile was bitter.
“There is almost something poetic about that.”
Harper took his hand.
“You are not responsible for Vittorio’s crime.”
“I benefited from it.”
“You were not born yet.”
“I inherited everything it protected.”
“That still does not make you the murderer.”
Dominic said nothing.
Harper had spent months learning the architecture of his guilt.
It was a strange structure.
He accepted responsibility not only for what he did, but for everything done in his name, before his time, by men he could not control.
The convoy reached the penthouse.
The coffin had already been removed.
Harper was grateful.
She did not want that image inside the home where they were preparing for their child.
Dominic went directly to his office.
Harper followed.
He no longer told her not to.
That small change mattered.
The commission meeting was scheduled for midnight at The Obsidian.
Before then, Dominic had six hours to decide what he would do.
Elias spread copies of Gabriel Moretti’s index across the table.
“We can probably neutralize some records before release.”
“How?”
“Pressure institutions holding supporting evidence. Purchase archives. Move assets.”
Harper looked at him.
“You are suggesting covering it up.”
Elias did not pretend otherwise.
“Yes.”
Dominic remained silent.
Antonio stood near the wall.
“You can preserve the family.”
Dominic turned.
“At what cost?”
Antonio looked surprised.
Harper was not.
Something had shifted in Sicily.
Dominic walked toward the window.
“My father murdered Gabriel Moretti because Gabriel discovered corruption.”
“Forty years ago,” Antonio said.
“And we continue many of the same structures.”
“Dominic.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“Do not defend this because it is old.”
Harper watched Elias carefully.
Unlike Antonio, he did not object.
Perhaps Elias understood where Dominic was going before the others did.
Dominic turned.
“Which Russo businesses are completely legitimate?”
Elias answered immediately.
“Real estate development. Hotels. Shipping, if we separate several port contracts. Technology investments. Healthcare. Private aviation. Approximately sixty-two percent of annual revenue.”
“And the rest?”
Antonio became alarmed.
“Dominic.”
“Answer.”
Elias did.
“Gambling. protection payments, illicit port operations, black-market logistics, loans, political influence.”
Harper had never heard the empire summarized so plainly.
Dominic looked at the city below.
“My father wanted legitimacy.”
Antonio stepped forward.
“Gradually.”
“He had twenty years.”
“He had enemies.”
“So do I.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic faced him.
“And I am tired of giving my child the same enemies.”
The room became silent.
Harper felt something enormous beginning.
“You want out,” she said.
Dominic looked at her.
“Not out.”
His gaze hardened.
“I want control without the poison.”
Antonio laughed incredulously.
“That is not how this works.”
“Then it will work differently.”
“The families will see weakness.”
“They already see me as illegitimate.”
“This could start a war.”
Dominic approached Antonio.
“Everything starts a war with men like Matteo.”
He pointed toward the Moretti files.
“My biological father died trying to expose the system. Vittorio died trying to protect it.”
Dominic’s voice became quiet.
“I will not die doing either.”
Harper’s heart tightened.
“What will you do?”
“Change it.”
Midnight arrived beneath thunder.
The commission gathered inside The Obsidian’s private chamber.
Harper was not expected to attend.
Dominic brought her anyway.
Six men sat around the long black table.
Some looked furious.
Others frightened.
Carmine Falco joined remotely from Sicily, proving retirement had not reduced his interest in power.
Dominic stood at the head.
An older boss named Vincent Marano spoke first.
“Is the Moretti archive real?”
“Yes.”
Murmurs spread.
“Does Matteo have it?”
“Part of it.”
“Can you stop publication?”
“Probably.”
Relief appeared.
Dominic continued.
“I will not.”
Silence.
Marano stared.
“What?”
“I will not bury every record.”
Someone cursed.
Another man stood.
“Are you insane?”
Dominic remained calm.
“Sit.”
The man sat.
Harper had to suppress a smile.
Dominic placed several files on the table.
“For decades, our organizations survived by purchasing silence. Judges. Police. Politicians. Unions.”
“No one needs a history lesson,” Marano snapped.
“You do.”
Dominic’s eyes became cold.
“Because you believe survival means repeating everything our fathers did.”
Carmine’s voice came through the screen.
“And what do you propose?”
Dominic looked directly at him.
“We dismantle vulnerable operations ourselves.”
The room erupted.
Men shouted.
One slammed his fist on the table.
Dominic waited.
Eventually silence returned.
He continued.
“Illegal port contracts end. Political bribery ends. Protection payments against legitimate businesses end.”
“You are destroying us.”
“No.”
“I am preventing Matteo from doing it.”
Marano laughed.
“With what money will families survive?”
Dominic opened a folder.
“Russo Holdings will purchase legal interests from any family willing to transition. Warehousing. Construction. Hospitality. Security. Waste management.”
Harper realized he had planned more than he admitted.
Elias must have prepared the figures during the flight.
Dominic was offering an exit.
Not moral redemption.
Not innocence.
A strategic transformation.
Carmine watched with narrowed eyes.
“And if families refuse?”
“Then Matteo releases their crimes, and they can explain them to federal prosecutors.”
The silence became absolute.
Harper almost admired the ruthlessness.
Dominic was using the truth as leverage to dismantle the system that created him.
Marano pointed toward Harper.
“This is because of her.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Careful.”
“You marry an outsider, create a child, and suddenly you want to become respectable.”
Harper stood before Dominic could stop her.
“Yes.”
Every man looked at her.
Marano sneered.
“Yes?”
“Yes, perhaps having something worth protecting changes a man.”
“Women do not speak at this table.”
Harper smiled.
“Then your table has probably missed useful information for a very long time.”
Carmine laughed from Sicily.
A genuine laugh.
Marano looked furious.
Dominic placed a hand against Harper’s back.
Not restraining.
Supporting.
Then a television mounted on the wall suddenly switched on.
Static.
Matteo appeared.
Every guard reached for a weapon despite the obvious fact he was not physically present.
Matteo smiled.
“Family meeting.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“How did you access this system?”
“Does it matter?”
Matteo looked toward Harper.
“Still brave, sister?”
She said nothing.
Matteo turned back to the table.
“You are listening to a man who is not even a Russo.”
Murmurs began.
Dominic did not react.
Matteo displayed the DNA report.
Several men cursed.
Marano stared at Dominic.
“Is this true?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
The room froze.
Dominic continued.
“Vittorio knew.”
He placed the declaration on the table.
“He chose me anyway.”
Matteo laughed.
“Because he was sentimental.”
“No.”
Dominic looked directly at the screen.
“Because he knew you.”
Matteo’s smile weakened.
Dominic stepped closer.
“You think blood makes you entitled to everything.”
“It makes me legitimate.”
“It makes you related.”
Dominic’s voice sharpened.
“Nothing more.”
Harper saw Matteo’s expression crack.
Dominic continued.
“You had ten years to build something. Instead, you hid behind dead men and stolen secrets.”
Matteo’s eyes became furious.
“You stole my life.”
“I was sixteen when you disappeared.”
“You replaced me.”
“Our father replaced you because you were unfit.”
The words landed hard.
Matteo leaned toward the camera.
“Then I will take your future instead.”
The screen changed.
A live security-camera feed appeared.
Harper recognized the hallway instantly.
Mount Sinai Hospital.
Her blood turned cold.
Madison.
Matteo smiled.
“She required follow-up testing after her flight.”
Harper stood.
“No.”
Dominic grabbed his phone.
Matteo continued.
“And hospitals remain surprisingly easy to enter when one has the correct credentials.”
The video showed Madison speaking with a nurse.
Then a man in medical scrubs approached.
Harper’s heart stopped.
“Dominic.”
He was already moving.
Matteo’s voice followed them.
“Choose carefully, little brother.”
Another camera feed appeared.
Not Madison.
Harper’s private obstetric clinic.
Her medical records.
Her full schedule.
Her blood type.
Ultrasound images.
Matteo had both files.
Both sisters.
Both vulnerabilities.
“What do you want?” Dominic demanded.
Matteo smiled.
“Your resignation.”
The commission stared.
“Publicly surrender leadership by sunrise.”
He paused.
“Transfer controlling authority to me.”
“And Madison?”
“Safe.”
“My wife?”
“Untouched.”
Dominic’s hand tightened around Harper’s.
Matteo leaned closer.
“If you refuse, the Moretti archive goes public, your commission collapses, and accidents begin happening to people you love.”
Harper watched Dominic.
She knew what he would do.
He had already told her in Sicily.
He would give up the empire.
Without hesitation.
That was exactly what Matteo expected.
Harper leaned toward Dominic.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Harper.”
“No.”
“I will not gamble with Madison.”
“Neither will I.”
“You heard him.”
“Yes.”
She looked at the men around the table.
Then at the screen.
Matteo believed Dominic’s love made him weak.
He had believed the same thing from the beginning.
Harper finally understood the mistake.
Love had not weakened Dominic.
It had given him people who would fight beside him.
She looked at Elias.
“Can Matteo hear us?”
“Yes.”
Harper stepped toward the screen.
“Matteo.”
He smiled.
“Yes, sister?”
“You made one mistake.”
“And what is that?”
“You think Dominic is the only Russo you are fighting.”
Harper removed the enormous diamond ring from her finger.
The symbol of their original contract.
She placed it on the commission table.
“I accepted this family when I thought it was temporary.”
Her hand moved to the gold band beneath it.
“This one was my choice.”
Matteo’s smile disappeared.
Harper looked directly at him.
“You wanted a family war?”
Her voice became cold.
“Now you have one.”
She turned to Dominic.
“Go get Madison.”
His eyes held hers.
“And you?”
“I am going to help Elias find where Matteo is broadcasting from.”
Dominic almost objected.
Harper raised one eyebrow.
He stopped.
Then he kissed her.
Hard.
Brief.
Certain.
When he pulled away, the entire commission was watching.
Dominic looked around the table.
“You wanted proof I have something to lose.”
His voice became dangerous.
“You were correct.”
Then he walked toward the doors.
“And anyone who helps Matteo touch my family loses everything first.”
May you like
For the first time that night, no one questioned whether Dominic Russo had the right blood.
They only remembered why they feared his name.
Related Stories
