ena

-law, my lips forming a

y Julian's betrayal. "Men make mistakes," she tells me, her voice trembling slightly. "The

owing inside that woman is an illegitimate bastard," I tell her. "Th

red. "Do not dare insult m

p from the older woman's hands and hurls

oup splashes across my shoulder, inst

to swallow all sound, leaving only the sharp ec

l of her expensive hair. I pulled her head back and deliver a brutal, ringi

ay from me. He shields her body with his own, his eyes wide as he whisper

burn every building on this street to keep me safe,

coff. I turned on my heel an

te study. I look at the framed wedding photos on my desk,

men my father always warned me about. He used my power t

s down my cheek. I opened my lap

headquarters. As I walk toward the main entrance, a line of unfami

round and tells me, "Serena F

e a tailored dress that cheaply mimics my style. "Julia

demands, "Kneel and apologize to me i

in a tens

he scene, and immediately ordered the guards to stand d

and walk straight i

to my desk and hands me a stack of transition documents. "You

aims. "I will appoint my own trusted capos to manage your sectors. I suggest you

l the exact quantity of laundered capital and Commission

lent, aware he is noth

ign the transition papers and push them across the desk

refused. "We took a blood oath,"

nd walk out

. As I walk past her, she intentionally tilts her cup. T

uth and fakes a gasping apolo

grab her hair with my left hand. With my right

own and is forced to kneel humiliatingly

ven," I whispe

my mind is already elsewhere. Julian thinks I have surre

ery concession, every humiliation I endured

d collect the de