Chapter 13 - The CompromiseViktor adjusted his leather coat, coughing violently as he caught his breath. He looked up at Gabriel with a mixture of fear and grudging respect.
"The Vale arrest created a power vacuum in the docks, Gabriel," Viktor wheezed. "The federal agents are sweeping through Park Avenue. Half the commission thinks you've gone soft because of your family. They think you're going to hand the territory over to the feds."
"The commission knows better," Gabriel replied coldly.
"They don't," Viktor spat, standing up slowly. "They see you taking in a wife you divorced and three kids no one knew existed. They think you're vulnerable. I came here to deliver a message from the council: prove you still control the East Coast by Friday, or the council will divide your shipping lines among the four families."
Gabriel sneered. "Is that a threat, Viktor?"
"It's a reality," Viktor said, stepping back toward his armed men. "Call a meeting of the High Council. Let them see that the king is still on his throne. Otherwise, the streets will run red, and no amount of bulletproof glass in this house will keep your boys safe from the crossfire."
Viktor and his men backed out the front doors, leaving behind a silence far heavier than the one before.
I walked down the stairs, my heart hammering against my ribs. The reality of Gabriel’s world was crashing back into our lives, threatening to dismantle the fragile peace we had just begun to build.
"You have to go to them, don't you?" I asked quietly.
Gabriel turned to me, his expression grim. "The High Council meets once every three years. If I don't show up and reassert my authority, rival factions will start a turf war that will turn Manhattan into a battleground."
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"And if you do go?"
"If I go," Gabriel said, looking at Henry, Julian, and Ben, "I have to bring my legacy with me. I have to show them that the Cross bloodline is stronger than ever."
