Chapter 15 - The Gathering Storm
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The summons arrived the next morning, delivered in a black envelope sealed with red wax.
Leo dropped it onto Devan’s desk, his expression grim. “The Five Families have called a mandatory Syndicate Summit at the Grand Continental Hotel. Friday night. All bosses must attend.”
Naya stood by the window, watching the waves crash against the cliffs below the estate. She turned around. “What does it mean?”
“It means a trial,” Devan said, slicing the envelope open with a letter opener. “Rossi has petitioned the Commission to revoke my territory. He is arguing that I am physically incapable of leading, and that marrying a civilian with no bloodline makes my syndicate unstable.”
“Can they do that?” Naya asked.
“If the majority votes yes, they can legally strip my assets. If I refuse to surrender them, it sparks an all-out war with the entire eastern seaboard.” Devan tossed the letter aside. “Rossi has spent two weeks bribing the other bosses. He has the votes.”
Leo slammed his fist on the desk. “It’s an ambush. Rossi will have his men stationed all over the hotel. We’re walking into a slaughterhouse.”
Devan looked at Naya. “I cannot force you to come. If you stay here, you will be safe.”
Naya walked over to the desk. She thought about the contract, about the money that was currently keeping her mother alive. But she also thought about the man in the wheelchair, who had treated her with more respect than anyone in her entire life.
“If I don't go, it proves Rossi right,” Naya said firmly. “It proves I’m just a prop who runs when things get dangerous.”
Devan’s eyes flared with a mixture of pride and fear.
“It won't be like the gala, Naya. There won't be polite conversation. There will be six hundred men in that room who want me dead.”
“Then we better make sure they don't get what they want,” she replied, crossing her arms. “What’s the plan?”
Devan looked at Leo, a dangerous, calculating smile spreading across his face.
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“Leo, pull the floor plans for the Grand Continental. Naya, what do you know about hotel catering logistics?”
Naya smirked. “I know exactly how to sneak a hundred things into a ballroom without anyone noticing.”
