Chapter 1

JULIUS

 "The meeting is at 5pm tomorrow. Better get those files on my table by tomorrow morning." I was getting angry, Aldonis had been acting up lately.

Yes, he was one of my strongest men, my most loyal, hell, he was even my right hand but this incompetence would cost us a lot if it continued. Despite being his brother, I was also his boss. Calling him out on things like this was only right. Blood didn't exempt anyone from consequences in this family. 

If anything, it made the expectations higher. I didn't have the luxury of nepotism. Every man in my organization had earned their place, and Aldonis was no exception. If he couldn't handle the pressure, I'd find someone who could. Brother or not.

"Okay, boss." The words came out tight and clipped. 

 He was pissed. Good. Anger was useful when channeled correctly. Anger kept men sharp, it kept them hungry. I'd rather have a brother who was furious and focused than one who was comfortable and complacent.

I let out a frustrated sigh, hanging up and sinking back into my seat. The leather creaked beneath me as I loosened my tie, the weight of the day pressing against my chest like a loaded gun. The city sprawled out beyond my car windows, a kingdom of glass and steel and shadows, all of it mine. Every building, every back alley, every dirty deal that went down in the dead of night, it all traced back to the Moretti name. My name.

 "Remember the dinner, Julius." Dad's calm, deep voice came from beside me and I rolled my eyes at his tone. 

 It was like he was reminding his kid to brush his teeth. Condescending and completely unnecessary. As if I hadn't been running this operation for the past ten years without a single misstep. As if I hadn't doubled our territory, tripled our revenue, and eliminated every threat that dared to rise against us. But to him, I was still the boy who needed reminding. 

Still the son who couldn't possibly understand the weight of old loyalties. "Father, I cannot cancel the meeting. I'll lose millions."

 This wasn't something I was going to discuss. We had this conversation three days ago when I received this partnership proposal, and it just so happened to fall on the same night as the dinner with Mr. Vladislav and his family. Great. Just fucking great. The timing couldn't have been worse if someone had planned it. And in my world, coincidences were for fools. Everything was calculated. Everything had a purpose.

"You can not miss this dinner either, Julius."

Knowing well my father's intense stare was aimed at me, I did not make the mistake of looking at him. Instead, I paid half attention to the emails I had opened on my phone. Contracts, shipments, names of men who owed us favors and men who owed us blood.

 The mundane things.

 I didn't need to look at him to feel the weight of his disappointment. It hung in the air like a noose, waiting for me to step into it.

"Father, I can't lose millions over a dinner with people I know nothing about."

I spoke calmly. No matter how angry or upset I got, I would never make the mistake of raising my voice to my father. I knew better. The last man who had done so was still feeding fish at the bottom of the Hudson. 

Family or not, my father commanded respect. And I had learned that lesson the hard way, watching and understanding what happened to those who forgot their place. I was many things, but I wasn't stupid. Not when it came to him.

"We have old ties with them, Julius. We agreed that when you were older, we'd form a real bond."

 His last words caught my attention and were enough for me to raise my head from my phone screen and look at him. Old ties, bond. The words hung in the air like smoke, curling around something I couldn't quite grasp. I didn't like not knowing things. I didn't like being kept in the dark. 

Information was power, and my father had always made sure I had plenty of it, until now.

"They helped your mother and I during an attack. Ever since then, we kept in contact. So dinner is the least we can do."

I groaned, knowing well that this conversation was pretty much over at this point. Knowing Father felt like he owed them, nothing was going to change his mind or make him think otherwise. The man was a wall when it came to debts, especially debts of honor. It was one of the things I respected about him, even when it inconvenienced me. Honor was a luxury in our world, but it was one he refused to abandon. No matter the cost.

 "An attack?" I asked, my voice lower now. Curious despite myself.

Father's jaw tightened, the only sign that the memory still affected him. "A few years after you were born, before we had the power we have now. The Vladislavs were the only ones who stood with us when everyone else wanted us dead and buried. They gave us shelter, resources, and protection when we had nothing to offer in return."

"And what do they want now?" I questioned, because there was always something. Nobody helped the mafia out of the kindness of their hearts. There was always a price, always a favor waiting to be called in. That was how this world worked. You didn't give without expecting to take. You didn't save someone's life without owning a piece of it.

"That's what tomorrow is for."

I studied my father for a long moment. He was getting older, I could see it, the way his hands rested on his cane, in the slight stoop of his shoulders that hadn't been there a few years ago. But his eyes were still sharp as ever, still calculating and dangerous. Whatever this dinner was about, he wasn't telling me everything. That was fine. I'd find out soon enough, I always did.

"Carol," I called out once my assistant had picked up.

"Yes, boss."

 "Cancel all my evening appointments for tomorrow." The words tasted bitter on my tongue, like losing a fight I hadn't even wanted to be in. I didn't cancel meetings. People waited for me, I didn't wait for them. That was how it worked. That was how it had always worked.

 And yet here I was, bending over backwards for ghosts from my father's past. "Even the meeting with the potential partners?"
 

The hesitation in her voice was barely there, but I caught it. Everyone in my inner circle knew how important this deal was. The Marchetti family had been expanding into our territory for months now, testing boundaries, pushing limits. This partnership would have given us a stronghold in the European market, a way to cut them off at the knees before they could sink their teeth in any deeper. It was the kind of deal that could shift the balance of power for years to come.

"Yes."