Chapter 9 - THE GREENWICH INVASIONThe iron gates of the Vance estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, loomed grand and imposing under the pale moonlight. Inside the sprawling manor's executive boardroom, ten of New York’s most elite crime syndicate bosses and corporate partners sat around a polished mahogany table, murmuring quietly.
At the head of the table sat Marcus Vance, swirling a glass of twenty-year-old scotch, wearing a somber, perfectly tailored black suit appropriate for a man mourning his niece.
"Gentlemen," Marcus began, his voice dripping with false melancholy. "We are gathered tonight to formally transition the Valente shipping assets. With poor Ezra broken by grief over little Rosalie's tragic passing, it falls upon us to ensure the stability of—"
CRASH.
The massive mahogany double doors of the boardroom didn't just open—they exploded inward, splintering into a thousand pieces as heavy combat boots kicked them off their reinforced hinges.
Silence slammed over the room like a physical blow.
Fourteen heavily armed men in black tactical gear poured into the room, their suppressed automatic rifles raised and locked onto the board members, who instantly threw their hands up in sheer terror.
And right down the center aisle walked Ezra Valente.
He wasn't wearing his suit jacket anymore. His shirtsleeves were rolled up to his forearms, revealing the lean, battle-hardened muscles of a man who had fought his way to the top of the underworld and stayed there. In his right hand, he held a heavy leather collar with a metal buckle that clicked rhythmically against his thigh.
Marcus staggered up from his chair, his face draining of all color, his glass slipping from his fingers to shatter against the Persian rug.
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"E-Ezra...?" Marcus stammered, his voice cracking wildly. "What... what is the meaning of this? Why are armed men—"
Ezra walked all the way to the head of the table, stopped three feet away from his cousin, and dropped the bloody, grease-stained dog collar right onto the center of Marcus’s polished financial reports.
