Ruthless Prince (Dark Syndicate 1)

I dip my head in appreciation.

“And mine,” Dominic adds. “You don’t have

to do this. You earned it. It was clear from way back that you would be the best option to take the lead after Pa. I don’t want you to think you have to give us anything for what we should give you naturally.”

“My thanks to you,” I say. “The empire belongs to all of us. It’s mine, and I want it to be yours too. I’ll get the lawyers to draw up the ownership documents stating exactly that.”

I have a feeling that was Pa’s intention. That’s another reason why he gave it all to me. He knew I would do this. We all work for the family business, and we each have our own side business ventures, but at the end of the day, legacy is legacy. That is what D’Agostino Inc. is.

“Thank you,” Tristan says.

“I thank you too,” Dominic adds.

“You’re welcome. I guess that leads us to the next matter of what we’ll be as a structure.” Pa never had the traditional hierarchy set up. He made us all capos. He was boss, and Grandfather his consigliere. I want to do something slightly different.

“Fuck, I’ve never seen you look so serious.” Dominic chuckles.

“Time to get serious,” I say. “I want Tristan and Andreas to both be underboss, and I want you to be my consigliere.” I look at them both.

Now they’re smiling.

“Fuck yeah,” Tristan muses and grabs a cigar from the humidor. He lights up and nods his satisfaction. “I like that. I’m definitely in.”

“And me, you trust me that much?” Dominic asks.

That’s a no-brainer question for me. “You know I do. There’s not a damn thing that you can’t find. Not a damn thing you can’t do. You wouldn’t lead me into shit, and right now I need a clear mind. I want to focus on the syndicate, and I don’t know how they’ll react when they find out I have so much power.”

I’ve been worried about that. They don’t have a leader. No one is above the other. They don’t want to make mistakes of the past, like some of the other syndicates. We’re a six-family syndicate. Instead of having one person lead the group, each family has a leader. It’s bad enough to be new, the youngest there, and try to fill my father’s shoes in a big organization, but me having the voting rights of two leaders is going to be a big deal. They won’t like it.

“They’re a bunch of old fucktards who need a good shakeup. You can’t worry about them,” Tristan says.

“I’m not. Not like that. It is what it is, and they’ll have to deal with it. What I want is for them to uninitiate Riccardo. That’s where I want the focus.” That is the next phase of the plan, and it’s completely on me.

That is the ultimate goal. And that fucker knew exactly what we were gearing toward. That was why he was so pissed. He’s scared.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a fucking tooth. That’s what he did to Pa when we were younger. That was the start of how we lost everything and the hard life that followed. Pa was uninitiated after the Syndicate deemed him to be no longer useful to them. That was after Riccardo stole what was supposed to be a joint business venture that became Balesteri Investments. That’s all the fucker has now, and I would have taken it too if it weren’t going under. Five years ago, when D’Agostino Inc. was declared a Fortune 500 company, Pa was approached by the Syndicate to rejoin them.

“He’ll be like a fucking bird without wings,” I add. “That’s why I need to keep things tight.”

I look at Tristan. Although I’ve chosen Dominic as my consigliere, I’ll need Tristan for this next part of the plan as additional muscle. Traditionally, the leader of the family is allowed to choose an accompanying member who will attend all Syndicate meetings with him. Most often, the consigliere will be that person, or the Bratva Pakhan will choose a brigadier. I’m going to choose my underboss. My second-in-command.

“You,”—I motion to Tristan—“I’m choosing you to join the Syndicate with me.”

“Me?” Tristan looks worried.

“Yes. You. It has to be you.” In case something happens to me. I always have to be mindful of that. I look back at Dominic and know he already understands my drift. “You keep our secrets, and you make shit happen. We’re entering a new era. Things have to be different.”

“I hear you.”

“Andreas is not going to be happy about that. He’ll wonder why you didn’t choose him,” Tristan states. He knows too that above everything, the Syndicate comes first. If shit happens to me, he’ll become boss due to his link to the Syndicate.

“Tristan, don’t.” Dominic scowls at him.

“Fuck you, what do you mean by don’t?” He raises his shoulders into a shrug. “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking. If I were wrong, he’d be here, right?”

Someone clears their throat across the room, and we all look to see Andreas standing by the door. He’s holding a bottle of wine.

I straighten up, and while I’m happy to see him, I get that vibe that he’s not exactly thrilled.