Chapter 20 - The New Queen
The emergency Syndicate council meeting was held three days later in a heavily guarded underground bunker beneath the city.
The five remaining bosses of the Eastern families sat around a massive circular table, smoking expensive cigars and murmuring in tense, suspicious voices. The Romano territory was completely leaderless, and the vultures were circling, ready to carve up the lucrative empire for themselves.
The heavy steel doors creaked open, and silence instantly fell over the room.
Luca walked in first, exuding absolute power and predatory confidence. But it wasn't the Devil of the East that made the veteran mafia bosses hold their breath. It was the woman walking directly beside him.
I wore a perfectly tailored black designer suit, my hair pulled back into a sleek, severe style. The terrified, naive waitress was dead and buried. I stepped into the harsh light of the bunker, meeting the ruthless stares of the council with an icy, unbroken gaze.
“What is the meaning of this, Luca?” the oldest boss, Don Falcone, demanded, slamming his fist onto the table. “You bring the Romano girl into our sacred council? She is the enemy!”
“She is not the enemy,” Luca stated smoothly, pulling out a chair at the head of the table for me before sitting down beside me. “She is the absolute, undisputed victor.”
Luca tossed a thick leather folder onto the center of the table.
“Dante Romano is dead by her hand,” Luca declared, his voice echoing with dangerous finality. “As the last living blood relative, Isabella has legally and systematically inherited every single asset, territory, and business front of the Romano empire.”
The bosses hastily opened the folder, their faces draining of color as they reviewed the iron-clad legal documents. I had spent the last seventy-two hours working with Luca’s most ruthless lawyers to secure my birthright before the council could steal it.
“This is an outrage!” Falcone sputtered. “You cannot allow a woman with no experience to control half the city!”
I leaned forward slowly, resting my elbows on the table and lacing my fingers together.
“I don't intend to run it alone, Don Falcone,” I said quietly, my voice slicing through the heavy tension like a perfectly sharpened razor. “I am bringing the entire Romano territory under the direct protection and control of the Moretti family.”
The entire room gasped. I was voluntarily merging the two most powerful, blood-soaked empires in history into one unstoppable syndicate.
“Consider it my dowry,” I added softly, turning to look at Luca, who was watching me with a look of pure, burning adoration.
“Are you insane?” another boss hissed, realizing the sheer, terrifying magnitude of the power Luca was about to wield. “You cannot do this!”
“It is already done,” Luca said, standing up and placing a heavy, protective hand on my shoulder. “Avery Isabella Romano is my future wife, and the mother to my heir. Anyone who disputes her claim will answer directly to my guns.”
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No one said a single word. They all bowed their heads in defeated, resentful submission.
I reached up and covered Luca’s warm hand with my own. I had finally found my family, my throne, and my king. And we were going to rule the dark world together.
