Chapter 9 - THE JUDAS KISS
Serena fled the room in tears, frantically gathering her belongings under the stony gaze of two guards. Dominic turned his attention back to Marcus, who was struggling to sit up against a heavy oak dresser.
"You're letting her go?" Marcus wheezed, wiping blood from his chin. "You're getting soft, Dom."
"She’s a parasite. She’ll find another host and destroy him from the inside out. That’s her curse," Dominic said coldly. "But you... you were my brother."
Dominic knelt down so he was eye-to-eye with the man who had been his shadow for fifteen years. "Why, Marcus? I gave you everything. You had wealth, power, respect. You were the second most powerful man in the state."
"Second," Marcus spat, his eyes burning with years of suppressed envy. "Always second. I took the bullets for you. I handled the filth while you sat in your ivory tower playing the gentleman boss. I was tired of eating your scraps."
Dominic nodded slowly, accepting the bitter truth of the criminal world. There was no loyalty, only opportunity. "You forgot the golden rule my father taught us, Marcus. If you strike at the king, you must kill him. You aimed for the crown, but you tripped over a six-year-old child."
Marcus frowned, confused through his pain. "A child? What the hell are you talking about?"
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"It doesn't matter," Dominic said softly. He stood up, towering over his former friend. He didn't want to drag this out. There was no joy in this execution, only the grim necessity of maintaining absolute authority. "Goodbye, Marcus."
The silenced shot was barely louder than a handclap. Marcus slumped sideways, lifeless. Dominic didn't watch him fall. He holstered his weapon and walked out of the room, leaving Tony to manage the cleanup. The rot had been excised. Now, it was time to rebuild.
