Chapter 6
Victor taught Dominic everything.
That was what the letters suggested.
Not directly at first.
Victor’s structure began as small “neighborhood fees” collected near Castellano properties. Businesses paid because they assumed the money came from the family.
Sofia discovered it.
Elise helped her.
Then Sofia died in what everyone called a boating accident.
I remembered that day too well.
No storm.
No witnesses.
Just a capsized boat and my sister’s coat found near the marina.
Victor stood beside me at the funeral.
He told me grief makes men paranoid.
That sentence returned differently now.
Daniel looked at me.
“You think Victor killed her?”
“I think I was told not to ask questions.”
Different thing.
Important difference.
I opened another letter.
Sofia had confronted Victor once.
Elise waited outside.
When Sofia came back, she was shaking.
She told Elise one thing.
Victor said Rocco will inherit the organization, but he’ll never inherit the streets. Men like him don’t see people like you.
I closed my eyes.
Victor had built his theft around my arrogance.
Not because I was cruel.
Because I was distant.
I knew captains.
Property numbers.
Route values.
I did not know the baker paying double because somebody used my name.
I did not know the cleaner threatened over late fees.
I did not know the widow giving cash to a club manager because she thought Castellano ordered it.
Victor was right about one thing.
I did not look down.
That realization hurt worse than Dominic’s betrayal.
Dominic entered the room under guard.
I placed Sofia’s letters in front of him.
He saw the handwriting.
His face changed.
“You knew.”
He said nothing.
“You knew your father had this system.”
Silence.
Daniel looked at him.
Dominic finally spoke.
“My father built stability.”
Daniel laughed.
“By taking my wife’s oven?”
Dominic snapped, “Your bakery exists because people like us keep that neighborhood safe.”
There it was.
Victor’s philosophy.
Protection as entitlement.
I looked at my nephew.
“And what happens when the person being protected cannot pay?”
Dominic’s answer came without hesitation.
“Then they don’t deserve the location.”
That was not a manager speaking.
May you like
That was a landlord of fear.
And I had handed him the keys.
