Chapter 13
The council convened the following morning.
Leo’s birthday decorations were gone.
No balloons.
No cupcakes.
No children.
Lorenzo insisted on that.
He sat at one end of the long table.
Dominic did not sit beside him.
That was new.
Evelyn sat across from Marcus.
That was new too.
Howard read the charges.
Marcus’s conspiracy.
Unauthorized financial diversion.
Outside commitments.
Manipulation of council procedure.
Evelyn’s misuse of foundation influence.
Intentional provocation.
Assault against Leo.
Caleb’s evidence manipulation.
Dominic’s concealment.
Howard’s own role in obscuring Antonio’s authorship.
Then Lorenzo.
Use of violence.
Threatening language.
Pattern of disproportionate retaliation.
Nobody escaped the table.
That was the first honest meeting they had held in years.
One capo asked Lorenzo:
“Do you deny hitting Marcus?”
“No.”
“Evelyn?”
“No.”
“Do you regret stopping them?”
Lorenzo’s fingers rested on the table.
“No.”
A murmur moved through the room.
He continued.
“I regret believing stopping them gave me permission to stop controlling myself.”
Silence.
Dominic looked at him.
Lorenzo met his eyes.
No forgiveness.
Recognition.
The council voted separately on each issue.
Marcus was suspended from every family and business role pending external legal review.
Evelyn lost foundation control immediately.
Caleb resigned.
Howard recused himself from future governance matters.
Dominic offered his resignation.
Lorenzo did not accept or reject it yet.
Then came Lorenzo’s vote.
Temporary suspension required six votes.
Five appeared quickly.
One more.
Lorenzo watched the final undecided capo.
Paul D’Amato.
A man whose wife Lorenzo had helped during cancer treatment.
Whose son Leo adored.
Paul’s hand trembled.
He finally raised it.
Six.
Lorenzo was suspended.
Marcus smiled before remembering he had already lost too.
Evelyn looked stunned.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Lorenzo simply removed his signet ring.
Placed it on the table.
No argument.
No threat.
That silence carried more authority than resistance would have.
Howard asked:
“Who holds interim command?”
Every eye moved around the table.
Not Marcus.
Not Evelyn.
Not Dominic.
The rules required the council to choose.
Then Paul spoke.
“Anthony Russo.”
Lorenzo looked toward his bodyguard.
Anthony froze.
He had never sought leadership.
Which was exactly why the room trusted him.
May you like
The man who had spent years protecting Lorenzo’s body—
was now being asked to hold Lorenzo’s power.
