Chapter 7
"Richard, please!" Claudia wept, crawling on her knees toward his leather shoes. "We can fix it! We'll put the money back! My family has land in Vail—"
"Your family has nothing that belongs to you," Richard replied coldly. "You brought shame to this house. You brought cruelty to a motherless child."
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the lodge rattled violently.
Three sentries stationed at the vestibule raised their weapons, their tactical radios crackling with frantic static. The senior guard, Viktor, stepped into the hall, breathing heavily, snow clinging to his tactical jacket.
"Don Richard," Viktor said, his voice laced with alarm. "We have a critical situation at the lower gate."
Richard didn't move. "Speak, Viktor."
"A convoy of four armored SUVs just breached the exterior checkpoint on Route 82," Viktor reported. "They didn't break the gate. They used an administrative override code issued under Mark’s private clearance. They're heading up the mountain road right now."
The room went dead silent. Every capo in the hall stiffened, hands instantly drifting beneath their blazers toward concealed shoulder holsters.
Richard looked down at Mark, whose face had gone completely translucent.
"An override code, Mark?" Richard asked softly. "Who did you invite to my private mountain lodge on my sixty-first birthday?"
Mark looked like he was about to vomit. He opened his mouth, but only dry gasps escaped.
"Answer him, Mark!" Capo Lorenzo yelled from the bar, drawing a suppressed 9mm. "Who is in those cars?!"
"It's... it's the Vance syndicate," Claudia blurted out, breaking down entirely under the threat of drawn guns. "Mark made a deal with Julian Vance! They promised us twenty million in liquid bearer bonds! They said if Mark took the leadership chair tonight, they would back our claim before the Commission!"
"A coup," Richard whispered, the realization settling into his bones with cold, surgical clarity. "You invited my oldest rivals to my home. You planned to remove me tonight."
"They told me you were getting too old, Dad!" Mark cried out in hysterical desperation. "They said you were going to hand the syndicate to an external trust instead of me! I had to protect my future! They promised nobody would get hurt—they were just going to force you into retirement!"
"Julian Vance doesn't force men into retirement, Mark," Richard said, his voice flat as an iron plate. "He puts two bullets in the back of their heads and burns the house down with everyone inside."
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Richard turned to his men. The grandfather was gone; the apex predator who had built an empire on blood had taken his place.
"Kill the main chandeliers," Richard commanded. "Bring up the perimeter searchlights. Arm the balconies. Nobody leaves this room, and nobody enters this lodge alive."
