Chapter 18 - Naya's Move
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Don Rossi froze, the heavy revolver shaking in his hand. He looked around the ballroom. His six hundred men were heavily armed, but they were trapped in a crossfire. The catering staff had the high ground on the balconies and controlled the only viable exits.
“You think these busboys will shoot?” Rossi sneered, though sweat beaded on his forehead. “They’re civilians! They’ll break at the first sound of gunfire!”
“They aren't civilians,” Naya corrected, her finger tightening on the trigger. “They’re mercenaries hired through Devan’s offshore accounts. We just dressed them in uniforms. Because people like you never look at the help.”
The other four bosses at the table exchanged panicked glances. Falcone slowly raised his hands in surrender, stepping away from Rossi.
“This was your play, Emilio,” Falcone said nervously. “We were just following the majority vote.”
“Cowards!” Rossi roared, turning his gun wildly between Devan and Naya. “I’ll kill you both right now!”
He swung the barrel toward Devan.
Before Rossi could pull the trigger, Naya fired.
The silenced thwip of her compact pistol echoed through the room. The bullet struck Rossi directly in the shoulder. He screamed in agony, dropping the revolver as he collapsed backward over a catering cart, shattering glass and silver across the floor.
The six hundred Rossi soldiers raised their weapons, shouting in chaos.
“Stand down!” Devan’s voice thundered over the noise, filled with the absolute, terrifying authority of a true king. He slammed his hand onto the table. “The first man who fires a shot condemns everyone in this room to die! Look around you!”
The soldiers hesitated. They looked at their bleeding boss on the floor, then at the mercenaries pointing automatic weapons at their heads from every balcony.
Slowly, one by one, the soldiers lowered their guns. The sound of weapons hitting the carpet echoed like a rainstorm through the ballroom.
Naya kept her gun trained on Rossi as he writhed on the floor, clutching his bleeding shoulder. She didn't shake. She didn't falter.
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She looked down at the man who had tried to destroy her future.
“I told you to watch your hands, Mr. Rossi.”
