Chapter 14 - The Betrayal Within
Back at the estate, the underlying tension finally snapped.
Marcus, emboldened by weeks of rumors and convinced that Dominic’s sudden focus on philanthropy had compromised the syndicate's operational security, decided to make his move. He had gathered three disloyal capos in the underground armory, plotting a hostile takeover of the docks while the boss was distracted by a hospital bill.
"He's losing his edge," Marcus hissed, loading the magazine of a suppressed pistol under the dim emergency lights. "A man who bleeds sympathy for a maid is a man who invites a bullet. When he comes back tonight, we take the ledger, we take the routes, and we make him step down."
"You sure about this, Marcus?" one of the capos asked, his voice shaking. "Gallow doesn't miss. If we fail—"
"We won't fail," Marcus sneered, pulling back the slide with a sharp clack. "He's vulnerable. The old man is soft."
A heavy shadow fell across the doorway of the armory.
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"Soft?" a voice echoed from the dark—cold, flat, and absolute in its menace.
Marcus spun around, dropping his weapon as Dominic stepped out from the shadows, flanked by Viktor and a dozen heavily armed enforcers. The temperature in the room plummeted instantly.
