Chapter 2

The next day.

The core members of both families sat along both sides of the long table.

In a sharp, custom-tailored black suit, I walked straight to the head of the long table and took the seat without hesitation.

The banquet hall fell silent.

Every elder and capo stared at me in shock.

No wonder. Until then, whatever the occasion, I had always worked quietly in Andrew's shadow.

Even with Andrew absent, they expected me to know my place and leave the Don's chair empty for a man.

"Well?" A bald underboss from the Colombo Family gave a derisive laugh. "Andrew isn't here, so Miss Ella thinks she's qualified to sit in the Don's chair?"

I glanced at him without flinching and returned his challenge.

"Today is the marriage alliance ceremony for Andrew and me. Since urgent business has kept him away, I will naturally represent him on this important occasion."

I swept my gaze around the room. "Besides, my grandfather is the former Don and one of the architects of this alliance. As heir to the Gambino Family, why shouldn't I sit here?"

No one could answer.

No one had expected the woman who had always worked silently behind Andrew to take such a hard line.

But the ceremony was not merely about formalizing the marriage alliance. It also marked the transfer of power between the two families.

No one wanted to waste time contesting my seat.

"By the way, why hasn't Andrew arrived yet? Wasn't he at the estate yesterday?"

Another Colombo elder rapped his knuckles on the table and fixed me with a hard stare.

I knew he wanted to put the blame for Andrew's absence on me.

Then he could justify sidelining me in the struggle for power.

I arched a brow and feigned surprise.

"Andrew didn't tell you about it? He's gone to save someone."

"Save someone?!"

This time, even the Colombo senior capos joined my grandfather in outrage. "He skipped an occasion this important because he had to rescue someone personally?!"

Exactly.

He commanded hundreds, even thousands, of men. Why did the Don-to-be need to risk his own life on a rescue?

Because the hostage was the woman he cared about. Nothing more.

I offered no further explanation, merely lifting a hand for silence.

My reaction told them everything they needed to know.

The Don-to-be had abandoned the Family's most important meeting for an outsider.

If Andrew could not distinguish what mattered, there was no point discussing him any further.

"Since Andrew isn't here, we should use this ceremony to discuss something else."

The bald underboss tapped the table again.

"You all know that the Victor Family has grown rapidly over the past few years and now poses a serious threat to our two families' arms and port operations.

"The point of this alliance was to choose a strong leader to face that enormous threat."

He shot to his feet and raised his voice. "Andrew, the man in whom we placed such hope, skipped a ceremony this important to rescue someone irrelevant. A man with so little sense of responsibility has no right to become our new Don!"

Murmured agreement swept through the hall.

The Victor Family's relentless pressure had exhausted everyone.

They had hoped Andrew's elevation would steady the ranks. Now that he had failed them, those who already resented him seized their opportunity.

In my previous life, Andrew had held those men in check only because I had given him leverage over each of them beforehand.

This time, I held all that leverage myself.

"I'd like to know." I crossed my legs and studied the bald underboss and the loudest capos with a faint, knowing smile.

"If Andrew is unfit, who among us is fit to lead?"

The bald underboss sneered and opened his mouth to nominate himself. "If Andrew is useless, then naturally we need someone capable of handling—"

"If you'll allow it, I'll shoulder that responsibility."

I cut him off outright.

As the room stared at me, I turned to Vincenzo. "Show them what we brought."

Vincenzo distributed the prepared stack of high-resolution photographs among the capos. The set was deliberately incomplete.

"You know the people in these photographs better than I do."

I rose, planted both hands on the table, and fixed the speechless men before me with a cold stare.

"How has the Victor Family known every detail of our ports these past few months? Because some of you took Victor's dirty money and sold the Family's transport routes.

"Handing the Family's highest authority to traitors would be a poor choice."

The men holding the photographs fell silent.

I did not expose them by name. I had given them a way out; instead of openly resisting me, they would now do everything they could to support me.

They reacted exactly as I expected.

"Since Andrew abandoned his duty to the Family for personal feelings, I, as the Gambino Family's heir, will take his place and assume control of both families."

I knew an outright bid for leadership would provoke fierce resistance.

But I held leverage over several of them. Submit, or die.

Besides... I still had my grandfather.

Every gaze turned to the former Don, who had remained silent throughout.

My grandfather studied me in silence.

Then a deeply satisfied smile spread across his weathered face.

Even in my previous life, he had believed Andrew unfit to be Don. But I had always stood behind Andrew, leaving my grandfather no choice but to approve him.

Now that I had declared my desire to lead, he had no reason to refuse.

He raised a hand and slowly pushed the obsidian ring, the symbol of the Don's authority, toward me.

"I trust Ella to lead the Family to greatness." The former Don's commanding voice carried through the hall. "From now on, Ella has final say in every matter concerning both families!"