Chapter 7 - Clearing the Board
We brought Vincent Colombo down to the main shipping floor, dragging him across the concrete until he regained consciousness, gasping and clutching his bleeding head. The massive warehouse doors were wide open now, letting in the cool, fresh morning air as the sun began to peek over the New York horizon, painting the sky in shades of bruised purple and brilliant orange.
Elena and Lily were safely seated in the back of my bulletproof SUV, wrapped in warm blankets, drinking hot tea that Marco had scavenged from the dock office. Lily was already falling asleep against her mother’s shoulder, clutching Miss Rose in one hand and a small chocolate bar Marco had managed to find in his tactical vest.
I walked slowly out of the shadows, my boots crunching on the gravel, stopping a few feet away from where Colombo was pinned to his knees by two of my enforcers.
He looked up, shivering not just from the morning chill, but from the absolute, suffocating terror of knowing his time had run out.
“Dominic... please,” Colombo choked out, blood dripping from his nose onto his expensive collar. “We're business partners... we’re old families... we can make a deal—!”
“Business partners?” I asked quietly, my voice carrying across the silent, cavernous warehouse where hundreds of my men stood at attention. “You didn't target a rival syndicate, Vincent. You didn't steal a cargo shipment. You crossed a line that no man in our world is ever permitted to cross.”
“I made a mistake—”
“Yes, you did,” I interrupted, pulling my SIG Sauer from its holster and releasing the safety with a sharp, echoing snap. “You forgot who built this city.”
Colombo squeezed his eyes shut, his entire body trembling violently. “Wait... just... what about Niko? He gave you the location! He betrayed you first!”
“Niko is already on a cargo ship bound for the Mediterranean with a one-way ticket and enough chains to keep him busy for the rest of his natural life,” I said flatly. “And you, Vincent... your shipping lines, your real estate fronts, your docks—they belong to the Moretti family as of five minutes ago. Your name is erased from New York history.”
“Please... spare my life—!”
I didn't let him finish the sentence. The single gunshot echoed off the corrugated metal walls of Red Hook, sharp, final, and absolute.
Colombo slumped forward into the dirt, silent forever.
I holstered my weapon, turning my back on the body without a second glance. Marco walked up beside me, handing me a clean handkerchief to wipe a speck of dust from my lapel.
“What are our orders for the remaining Colombo capos, Boss?” Marco asked.
May you like
“Send them a message,” I replied, looking toward the SUV where Lily was sleeping peacefully against Elena’s shoulder. “Tell them they can either bow to the new order, or they can join Vincent in the ground. But starting today, things in this city are going to change.”
Marco nodded respectfully. “Understood.”
