Chapter 18 - The Strike
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While Nora secured the home front, Arthur Costa was burning the city down.
He did not send foot soldiers to deal with Carmine Romano. He went himself.
At noon, Arthur and a heavily armed strike team hit the Romanos’ main shipping warehouse on the docks. It was a brutal, overwhelming display of force. Arthur’s men neutralized the guards with ruthless efficiency, pushing deep into the compound until they reached Carmine’s private office.
Arthur kicked the door open.
Carmine Romano, a fat, balding man who ruled his empire through fear, scrambled for the gun on his desk.
Arthur was faster. He shot the gun out of Carmine’s hand, the bullet shattering the older man’s wrist. Carmine screamed, falling to his knees.
Arthur walked slowly across the room, the crunch of broken glass under his boots the only sound. He grabbed Carmine by the collar of his expensive suit and hauled him up until they were eye-to-eye.
“You sent men to a park,” Arthur’s voice was a low, terrifying rumble. “You aimed at my children.”
“It was business, Costa!” Carmine spat, clutching his bleeding wrist. “You humiliated me! You bought the Hayes girl just to spite me!”
“I bought her because she is worth a hundred of you,” Arthur growled, pressing the barrel of his gun against Carmine’s forehead. “And she took a bullet protecting my blood. So now, I am taking yours.”
“If you kill me, the Commission will go to war with you!” Carmine threatened, his eyes wide with terror.
“Let them come.”
Arthur pulled the trigger.
He dropped Carmine’s lifeless body to the floor and turned to his men.
“Burn the warehouse. Take everything else. The Romano territory belongs to us now.”
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Arthur walked out of the burning building, the flames reflecting in his dark eyes. He didn’t care about the territory. He didn’t care about the money.
He only cared about getting home to the woman who had saved his soul.
