Chapter 8
The banishment hung in the bright, luminous air of the atrium, a heavy, unyielding decree that fundamentally altered the political structure of the syndicate. Charlotte realized she was not just being sent to a guest room; she was being entirely exiled from the empire she had tried to usurp.
"Xavier, you cannot do this!" Charlotte finally managed to shriek, desperation clawing at her throat. She pulled herself up onto her knees, ignoring the pain in her cheek. "My family controls the northern territories! If you throw me out, my father will blockade the shipping routes! He will declare war on this house!"
Xavier’s expression remained perfectly still, a mask of unyielding granite. The artistic tattoos on his neck flexed as he let out a slow, dark chuckle that contained absolutely no humor.
"Let him declare war," Xavier murmured, his American accent smooth and dripping with lethal confidence. "I built those shipping routes. I will burn them to ash before I allow a woman who puts my child on the floor... to sleep in my bed."
He turned his attention away from his ruined wife, his cold eyes locking onto his lead bodyguard, a massive man standing near the entrance.
"Marcus," Xavier ordered softly.
"Yes, Boss," the head bodyguard responded instantly, stepping forward into the bright light.
"Take them both," Xavier commanded, gesturing vaguely toward Julian, who was still groaning and bleeding by the marble plinth, and Charlotte, who was weeping among the cushions. "Strip them of their communication devices. Have their packed bags brought down from the mezzanine. Escort them to the city limits. If either of them attempts to contact anyone inside this estate again, execute them."
"No! Please, Xavier!" Charlotte sobbed hysterically as two guards grabbed her roughly by the arms, hauling her to her feet. Her silver stilettos dragged uselessly against the floor. "I have a son! You can't separate me from Liam!"
"Your son will be delivered to your father's estate in the morning," Xavier replied coldly, not even looking back at her. "He is innocent. You are a disease. I am curing my house."
"You will regret this!" Julian wheezed as he was dragged past Xavier, blood dripping from his chin onto his expensive light-grey suit. "My family will slaughter your capos!"
"Tell your family," Xavier whispered, leaning in close to Julian as the guards paused for a fraction of a second, "that the Black King is fully awake. And I am coming for their crowns."
The bodyguards dragged the screaming, thrashing siblings out of the grand atrium, forcing them through the heavy front doors and out into the night. Their desperate pleas faded into the distance, leaving a profound, stunned silence in the brightly lit room.
May you like
Xavier stood alone in the center of the wreckage. He adjusted the cuffs of his black dress shirt, his breathing perfectly even. He turned his gaze to the wealthy American guests and the silent capos who had witnessed the entire purge.
"The banquet," Xavier announced, his deep voice carrying effortlessly across the room, "is concluded. Return to your homes."
