Chapter 4 - THE MONSTER IN THE SHADOWSBy sunrise, the city of Grayhaven belonged to Vincent Vance.
News stations broadcasted breaking headlines:
DON SILAS MARCONE MISSING AND PRESUMED DEAD AFTER MANSION FIRE. TRUSTEE VINCENT VANCE APPOINTED INTERIM CHAIRMAN OF MARCONE ENTERPRISE.
On the small television in the safehouse, Vincent stood before a wall of reporters outside City Hall, wearing a black armband, looking grief-stricken.
"We are devastated by the sudden loss of my dear friend, Silas Marcone," Vincent told the cameras, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "Tragically, a rogue housekeeper, Mara Ellison, was spotted fleeing the scene after setting fire to the west wing. A warrant has been issued for her arrest..."
CRACK!
Silas threw a heavy glass mug through the television screen, shattering it into a hundred smoking pieces.
"He's framing you," Silas growled, standing up from the medical table. He was wearing black tactical trousers and a tight black compression shirt that showed off his massive chest and the thick bandage over his shoulder.
"Let him try," Mara said coolly, setting a plate of toasted bread down for Poppy. "Vincent thinks I'm scared. He thinks I'm going to run back to the South Side and hide."
She turned to face Silas, her dark eyes flashing. "What is Vincent’s biggest weakness?"
Silas stared at her, impressed. "The Commission. Vincent needs the five syndicate bosses to ratify his appointment as Don tonight at the Grayhaven Plaza Hotel. If the bosses vote for him, he gets full legal control of my shipping lines, my banks, and my private security army."
"And if you show up alive?" Mara asked.
"If I show up alive alone, his men will shoot me before I cross the lobby," Silas replied grimly. "Vincent hired sixty mercenaries from New York to guard the hotel. The Commission bosses won't care who lives or dies as long as the business keeps making money."
Mara walked over to the weapon cabinet in the corner of the safehouse.
She picked up a heavy silver signet ring sitting on a velvet tray—the Marcone Lion Ring, the supreme symbol of authority over the Grayhaven underworld. Silas had kept it hidden in the safehouse for years.
Mara held the heavy gold ring in her palm, looking up at Silas.
"He called me a fat maid," Mara said softly, her full lips curving into a deadly, beautiful smile. "He told his guards I was garbage."
She walked up to Silas, placing her hands flat against his broad, muscular chest.
"Don't go to that hotel as a ghost, Silas," Mara whispered, her dark eyes locking onto his hazel ones. "Go there as a King... and take your Queen with you."
Silas stared at her. His breath caught in his throat as he realized what she was suggesting.
A slow, terrifying, glorious smile spread across Don Silas Marcone’s dark face.
"Marco!" Silas called out to his head loyalist soldier who had just arrived at the safehouse.
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"Yes, Don Silas?!" Marco answered, bowing his head.
"Get the finest dressmakers in the city," Silas commanded, his voice booming like thunder. "Buy the dark red silk gown from the Cartier vault. And get my wife her crown."
