The silent tension in the parlor was so dense it could be cut with a blade. My guards stood like marble statues, their hands hovering over hidden holsters, waiting for the explosive fury that usually followed any sign of disrespect toward Adrian Romano.

Word of the destruction of Warehouse 14 and the death of Julian Vance spread through the American underworld like a wildfire.

By the following week, the Five Families of the Chicago Commission called an emergency tribunal at the historic Blackstone Hotel. A Don killing an Underboss was one thing; a Don conducting an all-out war in the middle of the city brought heat from the Feds that none of the syndicate bosses could afford.

I arrived at the Blackstone Hotel flanked by forty heavy operatives. I didn't wear a bulletproof vest. I wore a charcoal-gray tailored suit, a crimson tie, and an posture that dictated absolute authority.

Inside the grand ballroom, five old men sat behind a long mahogany table. At the center was Don Mateo Luchesi, looking older and more paranoid than ever.

"Adrian Romano," Luchesi announced, his voice echoing off the gilded walls. "You stand before the Commission accused of bringing unsanctioned war to our streets. You destroyed a harbor facility, brought Federal agents to our doorstep, and executed Julian Vance without a trial by your peers."

The other four bosses nodded sternly, their hands resting near hidden weapons beneath the table.

"Julian Vance was a rogue agent who hired foreign mercenaries to attack my home," I spoke coldly, stepping into the center of the room. "He violated the sacred oath of the Commission by targeting non-combatants—a woman and a child."

Luchesi leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "We hear rumors, Romano. We hear you've soft-hearted. We hear you let a housekeeper's bastard rule your estate. Some of the bosses feel you are no longer fit to hold the Northern Territory."

"Is that so?" I said smoothly.

I reached into my breast pocket. Every guard in the room tensed, their hands flying to their armpits.

I didn't pull a gun.

I pulled out a thick leather bound folder and tossed it onto the center of the Commission's table.

"What is this?" Luchesi demanded.

"That is the complete financial audit of every bank account, shell company, and offshore trust owned by the Luchesi family," I said calmly. "It includes the names of every judge on your payroll, every customs officer you bribe at the docks, and the location of your secondary weapons depot in Indiana."

Luchesi's face went from pale to ghostly white. "How... where did you get this?"

"My housekeeper spent three years working in the District Attorney's financial crimes unit before she came to me," I lied with a cold smile, protecting Elena's true past while weaponizing her intelligence. "She knows how to read ledger sheets better than your top accountants."

The other four Dons immediately turned to look at Luchesi, their eyes filled with fury and suspicion.

"You brought us here to judge Adrian," Don Carmine of the South Side faction growled, looking at Luchesi. "While he holds a knife to your entire family's throat?!"

"I didn't come here to start a war with the Commission," I said, stepping closer to the table and leaning down until I was eye-to-eye with Luchesi. "I came here to announce my retirement."

The room went dead silent.

"Retirement?" Carmine gasped. "A Don of the Romano family doesn't retire."

"He does when he appoints a successor," I replied. I stepped aside and pointed toward the back doors of the ballroom.

The double doors swung open. Walking in, flanked by my top strategist, was Viktor—and behind him, walking with a subtle limp but fully alive, was Marcus Vance.

Elena's thought-dead husband. Lily's father.

I had sent my team to track him down two days ago after decrypting Julian's private files. Julian hadn't killed Marcus; he had held him in an underground black site in Toronto to keep him from testifying. My men had pulled him out eighteen hours prior.

"Marcus Vance is the rightful heir to the Vance territory," I declared to the stunned Commission. "He will take over my shipping routes. Viktor will serve as his Underboss and ensure total loyalty to the peace treaty. And as for me... my time in this war is finished."

Luchesi looked at Marcus, then at me, realizing he had been completely outmaneuvered.

"And if we don't accept this transition?" Luchesi threatened weakly.