Chapter 8 - The Long Island Summit
The Long Island estate of Don Carmine Lucchese was heavily guarded by thirty tactical enforcers. Inside the grand oak-paneled boardroom, the bosses of the four remaining families sat around a massive oval table, surrounded by cigar smoke and tense silence.
When Adrian walked in, flanked only by Vance, the room grew even quieter.
Don Carmine, an eighty-year-old patriarch with sharp, reptilian eyes, leaned forward on his silver-topped cane.
"Adrian," Carmine rasped, his voice sounding like dry leaves. "You destroyed the Valenti family without consulting the Commission. You disrupted the distribution channels in Jersey."
"Valenti broke the code," Adrian stated flatly, taking his seat at the head of the table. "He used Giancarlo's forged debt to attempt an armed extortion on my private residence. He threatened my home."
"Your home?" another boss, Dominic Bruno, sneered. "We heard stories, Moretti. We heard you let a housekeeper's child walk right through a confrontation. We heard you're getting soft."
The other bosses chuckled darkly, leaning back in their leather chairs.
Adrian didn't react. He slowly reached into his interior jacket pocket, touched the folded crayon drawing over his heart, and then rested his hands flat on the mahogany table.
"Dominic," Adrian said, his tone deceptively soft. "You think having something to protect makes a man soft?"
He leaned forward, his dark eyes locking onto Bruno with an intensity that instantly killed the laughter in the room.
"When I had nothing to lose, I fought for money and territory," Adrian explained, every word ringing with absolute, terrifying clarity. "Now, I have a family to protect. Which means if any of you step near my home, my docks, or my people... I will not negotiate. I will not seek approval from this Commission. I will tear your organizations apart stone by stone until nothing remains."
The four syndicate bosses looked at Adrian's face and realized the truth. He was not soft. He was more dangerous than he had ever been in his entire life—because his violence was no longer driven by ambition, but by an unyielding, unbreakable devotion.
Don Carmine stared at Adrian for a long, silent moment. Then, slowly, the old patriarch tapped his cane against the floor.
"The Moretti territory in Jersey is recognized," Carmine declared, his voice firm. "The Valenti debt is void. The Commission has no further dispute with Don Moretti."
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None of the other bosses raised an objection.
Adrian stood up, buttoned his jacket, and walked out of the boardroom without looking back.
