A 6-YEAR-OLD WHISPERED, “THERE’S A RECORDER IN YOUR OFFICE…” — THE MAFIA BOSS WENT COLD WHEN HE LEARNED WHO PUT IT THERE

A deafening blast shattered the quiet night as the lead SUV erupted into a fireball, sending shrapnel and glass raining down over the docks. The remaining traitors scrambled for cover, firing wildly into the fog.

From the shadows, Dominic’s loyalists—the Old Guard—opened fire. They were veterans, cold and disciplined, picking off Marcus’s panicked men one by one with suppressed rifles.

Dominic descended from the crane, a wraith in the mist. He didn't run. He walked with the calm, terrifying purpose of an executioner.

Bullets sparked against the shipping containers around him, but he barely blinked. He was looking for one man.

Marcus was pinned behind a forklift, screaming into a radio for backup that was never coming. He fired blindly into the dark, his polished facade completely shattered by panic.

“Marcus!” Dominic’s voice boomed through a megaphone Tony had set up, echoing from all directions. “You sold out the family for a cartel that doesn't even know your last name! You sold me out for a woman who will sell you out tomorrow!”

“Screw you, Dom!” Marcus screamed back, firing in the direction of the voice.

Dominic flanked him silently. He moved through the maze of crates until he was standing less than ten feet behind his former best friend.

“You missed,” Dominic said quietly.

Marcus spun around, raising his gun, but Dominic was faster. A single shot rang out. The bullet shattered Marcus’s right knee. Marcus collapsed to the concrete, howling in agony, his weapon skittering away into the dark.

Dominic stood over him, the barrel of the 1911 smoking in the cold air. The gunfire around the pier had died down. The Old Guard had finished the job. The traitors were dead.

“Why?” Dominic asked, his voice entirely hollow.

Marcus clutched his bleeding leg, looking up at the man he had called brother. He laughed, a wet, ragged sound. “Because you went soft, Dom. You started caring about the legitimate businesses. The rules. I wanted the empire the way your father ran it—with blood and fear. And Serena... she just wanted the crown.”