The main Mafia members – Pavel, and others who'd been watching with their own families – all wore expressions mixing shock.
And at the center of it all, sitting in the chair that had become his unofficial throne, was Old Man Mike.
He was the oldest person in the room by two decades at the very least, his weathered face showing every year of hard living in the criminal underworld.
He'd built the largest underground network in the Central Region through decades of careful planning, brutal enforcement, and strategic alliances.
When Damian had arrived and systematically dismantled the old power structures, Mike had been smart enough to recognize genius when he saw it and had offered his allegiance without hesitation.
Now, as the families around him began to panic, as voices rose in fear and desperation, Mike stood up.
Creak
The stand was simple, unhurried and carrying the weight of authority earned through surviving situations that had killed lesser men.
"..."
