Chapter 7 - The Trial at Pier 14|
Dominic stopped at the head of the table, staring down at his cousin.
"You called a vote, Julian?" Dominic asked, his voice low, raspy, and dangerously calm.
"Dominic, listen to me," Julian stammered, sweat breaking out across his forehead. "We heard about the accident. We thought you needed support—"
Dominic reached out, grabbed Julian by his lapels, and dragged his six-foot frame across the mahogany table, shattering crystal glasses and whiskey bottles.
"Argh!" Julian screamed as Dominic slammed him down onto the table, pressing a heavy tactical pistol directly against his jaw.
The nine captains backed away against the glass walls, none of them daring to reach for a weapon.
"Twenty thousand dollars," Dominic whispered into Julian’s ear. "That's how much you paid the mechanic in Halston to cut Mara’s brake lines."
Julian’s eyes went wide as saucers. "Dominic... no! It wasn't me! It was Celeste! Celeste gave me the money!"
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Dominic’s jaw tightened until the bone looked ready to burst through skin. "Celeste?"
"Yes!" Julian wept hysterically, blood dripping from his lip where the glass had cut him. "Celeste found out Mara was pregnant two weeks ago! She knew if Mara had your baby, you would never marry her! She came to me! She offered to fund the hit if I took the blame!"
Dominic lowered his gun an inch, looking into Julian’s terrified eyes.
"You tried to kill my daughter, Julian," Dominic said softly.
"Dominic, please! We're blood!"
"My blood is sitting in an incubator fighting for her life," Dominic growled.
PHFT.
A single suppressed round ended Julian’s plea.
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Dominic stood up, wiping a drop of blood from his jaw with his sleeve, turning his lethal gaze toward the remaining eight captains.
"The Vescari family has a new heir," Dominic announced, his voice echoing off the concrete walls like iron. "A daughter. If anyone in this room so much as thinks her name without my permission, I will bury you beneath this pier."
