Chapter 15 - The Council of the VanguardHigh above the city lights, inside the grand boardroom of The Citadel in the Hudson Valley, the elders of the Sicilian Vanguard sat in absolute silence.
The heavy oak doors swung open, and Elena entered.
She wore a midnight-blue velvet pantsuit, her posture straight and commanding. She took her seat at the head of the long walnut table—the seat traditionally reserved for the supreme patriarch of the syndicate.
Nicholas stood beside her, placing a leather-bound dossier before each elder.
"The restructuring of the North American and European shipping corridors is complete," Elena announced, her voice echoing clearly across the vast room. "All illicit narcotics trafficking formerly funneled through Visconti channels has been permanently purged and replaced with legitimate, high-value global supply chains."
An elderly elder with deep wrinkles and sharp eyes nodded approvingly. "You have transformed a syndicate of blood and shadows into a legitimate corporate powerhouse, Madam Chairwoman. Your father would be proud."
"My father built the foundation," Elena replied steadily. "I simply ensured that no weak link could ever threaten it again."
"And the former boss?" another elder asked. "Valentino? What are your final orders regarding him?"
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Elena paused for a moment, looking out the massive arched window toward the cold, starlit hills outside.
"Leave him," she said softly. "Letting him live in the world he created, completely powerless and forgotten, is a far greater punishment than a bullet ever could be."
