Chapter 13 - The Trial of Smoke and Mirrors: Cleaning the Romano Empire
Inside Blackwood Manor, the transition from shadow syndicate to global empire moved at a breathtaking pace.
Maeve sat at the head of the long mahogany boardroom table in the manor’s east wing, surrounded by twelve of the top corporate attorneys and philanthropic directors in the country.
She wore a tailored charcoal wool suit, her dark hair styled with effortless elegance, the eight-carat diamond sparkling on her left hand.
On the table before her were the legal deeds to over one hundred commercial properties across the south side of New Harbor.
“Mrs. Romano,” the lead attorney said, adjusting his glasses with deep respect. “The purchase of the 8th Street commercial corridor is complete. As per your instructions, the leases for every small family business—the bakeries, the dry cleaners, the auto shops—have been locked in at zero-percent rent increases for the next thirty years.”
Maeve signed the documents with a steady hand.
“And the community medical clinic on 4th Avenue?” she asked.
“Funded in full with an initial endowment of fifty million dollars,” the attorney replied. “It will bear your mother’s name: The Nolan Community Health Pavilion. Full free medical care for every uninsured family in the district.”
Maeve leaned back in her chair, a profound sense of peace washing over her.
For generations, women like her mother had died young because they couldn't afford seventy-two-dollar prescriptions. Now, with a single stroke of her pen, no daughter in New Harbor would ever have to choose between paying rent and buying her mother’s heart medication.
Arthur walked into the boardroom from the adjoining office, dressed in a sharp gray three-piece suit. He dismissed the attorneys with a nod, then walked over to Maeve’s chair.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, leaning down to kiss the crown of her head.
“You’ve spent seventy million dollars before lunch, my love,” Arthur murmured with a proud smile.
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Maeve looked up, smiling playfully. “Are you regretting giving me power of attorney, Don Romano?”
Arthur laughed, pulling her up out of the chair into his arms. “I have never made a better investment in my life.”
