Chapter 13
The audit found twenty-one payments.
Some were legitimate consulting fees.
Some were not.
Three capos had received private loans.
Two vendors received debt relief.
A city liaison had been paid through a Cross subsidiary.
Marcus had done something more sophisticated than theft.
He created dependency.
Dominic called every involved man into a neutral office downtown.
No mansion.
No garden.
No family photographs.
Marcus sat at one end of the conference table.
Dominic sat at the other.
The old power dynamic looked different here.
Marcus straightened his cuffs.
“You think these men belong to you?”
Dominic looked at him.
“No.”
That answer surprised everyone.
Marcus frowned.
Dominic continued.
“That was part of the problem.”
He placed the audit on the table.
“People aren't property.”
A pause.
“But payments are records.”
One by one, the transactions were explained.
A capo borrowed money after his wife’s cancer treatment.
Another covered a failing restaurant his brother owned.
A third accepted cash to steer security work toward Cross Strategic.
Different motives.
Different severity.
Dominic refused to treat them as one betrayal.
Marcus watched.
His jaw tightened.
He had expected Dominic to purge everyone.
Fear would have driven survivors toward Marcus.
Instead, Dominic separated need from corruption.
Loans were disclosed.
Conflicts reviewed.
The man who traded contracts for cash was suspended.
The others lost certain authority until independent review concluded.
Marcus’s network began collapsing because shame no longer guaranteed obedience.
“You’re letting weakness stay inside the family,” Marcus said.
Dominic’s eyes stayed on him.
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“I’m removing the market you built for secrets.”
Marcus looked away.
That was the real punishment.
Not violence.
Loss of leverage.
Then one accountant approached with the final contract review.
The first $600,000 Dominic signed at the hospital had not gone only to Cross Strategic.
Half had been routed onward.
Destination:
VIVIENNE CROSS PERSONAL TRUST.
Dominic looked toward her.
She was not in the room.
Marcus smiled faintly.
“There.”
Power returned to him for one second.
Dominic stared at the record.
Vivienne had repeatedly framed herself as someone who helped because Marcus pressured her.
But she had personally received $300,000 from the first improper transfer.
Marcus leaned back.
“She didn't tell you that?”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“No.”
Marcus’s smile grew.
“My sister wasn't dragged into this.”
May you like
A pause.
“She bought herself in.”
