Chapter 11
The encrypted message burned into Alessandra’s mind long after the screen of her phone went dark. The Chicago Commission did not send invitations; they issued summons, and demanding her presence by dawn, alone, was a blatant test of her authority. She looked down at Caleb one last time, his small, bruised chest rising and falling peacefully under the influence of the mild painkillers Dr. Evans had administered. He was the reason she had burned her family to the ground, and he would be the reason she would burn Chicago if they tried to cross her.
She turned and quietly left the medical suite, the heavy crimson fabric of her gown rustling softly against the polished floorboards. Silas was waiting in the main corridor, his broad shoulders tense in his tailored suit.
"You saw the message," Alessandra said, not a question, but a statement of fact. Her American accent was clipped, betraying none of the exhaustion that clung to her bones.
"I intercepted the encrypted routing, Boss," Silas replied, falling into step beside her. "It’s a blatant power play. They know you just exiled Vincent, Francesca, and Bianca. They think the Romano family is fractured. Going to a Commission meeting alone, on their turf, is suicide."
"It’s only suicide if they intend to kill me," Alessandra said, her voice a low, mesmerizing whisper. "They don't want a war. They want concessions. They want to see if the little girl who just deposed her father has the stomach to hold the throne."
She stopped in front of the massive double doors of her private suite and turned to her underboss. Her beautiful, porcelain features were carved into a mask of pure, sociopathic detachment.
May you like
"Silas," she commanded, her dark eyes flashing with lethal intent. "Prepare the armored convoy. I leave in two hours. But before that, I need you to make a phone call to our contacts at the docks. I want three tons of untraceable military-grade explosives loaded onto a freighter and parked directly beneath the Commission’s headquarters by 5:00 AM."
Silas didn't blink. "Yes, Boss."
