te'

ything I was, threatening to crumble. Sitting in my private library, I swirled the whiskey in

rls, not burying my father and inheriting his bloodstained empire. My mother, though, s

e smoke still clings to my nightmares. My mother's screams. My sis

ling through blood and ash, barely holding on until one of

n the bastards who did it, made sure their entire bloodline was wiped off the

I see a hollow shell wearing a mask. And the irony? I hate this life, but I can't let it go. The power, the cont

sent. My consigliere entered with his usual ti

empty glass on my desk. Ti

d to carve me into whatever monster would sell the most headlines. But I was used to it. I stood in the ce

he warehouse fire?" one reporter called, her

ortunate incident. We're cooperating fully with the authoriti

fire has raised suspicions about the Romano family's operations. What do you say

without evidence are just rumors, and I don't respond to rumors. The Romano family has al

en connected to several questionable dealings in the past.

ation otherwise is baseless. His only involvement was ensuring the safety of our employees du

ster now, like vultures

ve been deliberate. Was it arson

lagged in the past for viola

empire isn't as clean as y

them with practiced ease. Years in this life had taught me how to li

n audited, investigated, and questioned more times than I can count, and yet here we are-still standing. As for the violatio

vultures, waiting for a crack. But I gave

just a coincidence, Mr. Romano?" one reporter as

of my workers was careless, and the fire was an accident. Speculation helps no one. My focus i

eir doubt. But I had no intentio

asked, his voice laced with insinuation. "

blood boil. But I didn't let it show. They wanted a reacti

face of the man who brought all this c

er is in

standing at the back of the room, her chin rais

d as she stepped forward, her words ri

ed, her eyes locked on me

She didn't know what she was walking into, didn't understand the game she'd

authority to remind her of her place. "This is a press con

nt, I wondered if she'd push back. But she didn't. She sh

ession into something neutral. "If there are no f

didn't give them a chance to linger. I walked out of the room, m

This was going t