Ruthless Prince (Dark Syndicate 1)

I shake my head at him. When he reaches us, he sets down the coffee and the pastries bag on the little table. Instead of hugging me, he bumps his fist with mine and takes out a plastic container from the pastry bag. It has a slice of carrot cake inside it.

I press my lips together knowing what it means. Ma used to make carrot cake when we had something to celebrate.

“Thought you might like this. It almost tastes like hers,” Dominic says. “Almost.”

I take it. “Thank you. I appreciate it, little brother.”

Now he hugs me.

“Great, we’re like a bunch of pussies gathering over coffee and cake,” Tristan teases and props himself down on the sofa.

“Hey, it’s a rare day. Alright?” Dominic frowns and leans against the edge of the pool table.

I glance toward the door in anticipation. Hoping Andreas will come in next. Since he’s never late, I’m inclined to assume he’s not coming.

Seeing my sudden discomfort, Tristan and Dominic exchange glances.

“Any of you hear from Andreas?” I ask.

“Nah…” Tristan replies, sitting forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

“Maybe he’s just running behind,” Dominic states.

“Or he’s not coming,” Tristan intones. I glance at him. “Come on, man, when is he ever late? Fucking never.”

Dominic looks uncomfortable. He reaches for his cup of coffee and starts sipping.

“I guess I’ll start, then. This was kind of unofficial. I just … wanted to meet with you and update you.” I assume business mode, although I’m disappointed Andreas isn’t here.

Disappointed and pissed. Unofficial or not, I’m boss, and if I’ve called a meeting, he needs to be here. I guess I really was right about the stir and tension. He’s not happy I’m boss.

“You changing things up?” Tristan asks, giving me a curious but hopeful stare.

“Yeah, I am. Everything.”

Dominic continues to sip on his drink.

“Like what?”

“I’m splitting the company and the assets four ways,” I answer. His skin goes pale. Dominic almost chokes but rights himself and widens his eyes.

“What?” he gasps, choking.

The two stare on in shock I expected because we’re all greedy mobsters at the end of the day. The only man I know who splits up his wealth is my old friend, a boss in Chicago called Claudius Morientz. As a result, he has a crew of his men who are loyal to him to the death. I want that here for us. I figured LA could learn a thing or two from Chicago. I also figured it should work better here because we’re already brothers and we’re close. At least that’s what I thought.

“Jesus, Massimo,” Tristan rasps. “Do you know what you’re saying? Do you know how much the empire is worth?”

“I know. Your loyalty is worth more to me.”

It’s been four months since Pa announced that he’d chosen me to take the lead. That came about after my grandfather’s death. Pa said whenever that happened, it would signal the time to set up a new structure and he would return to Sicily. That’s his plan.

Any of the four of us could have led the empire, but the competition was down to me and Andreas. The last few months, Pa has been training me and showing me the ropes. The next few months will be about the syndicate.

It took Pa five years to find a new niche of business, and when he did, he hit it big. He went into the oil and gas industry. He went the legit route and set up an empire to rival every other. There’s not a man alive who doesn’t know the D’Agostino brand. The company and all that we own is worth billions.

Tristan and Dominic both look at each other and then to me.

“You are a better man than I give you credit for, Massimo D’Agostino,” Tristan says. “You already had my loyalty, brother.”