Chapter 14 - The Coronation of the Queen: Taking Down the Final Titan in a Room Full of Predators
One week later, the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel was packed with every surviving syndicate boss, corrupt politician, and billionaire financier on the East Coast.
The rumor mill had run wild for seven days. Everyone knew the Castiglione family was gone. Everyone knew Victor Vance was dead. But nobody knew who had orchestrated the greatest single-night coup in New York history.
The grand double doors swung open.
Larkin Steves walked into the room, looking immaculate in a tailored midnight-blue tuxedo. But he did not take the stage alone.
Beside him, with her hand resting confidently on his arm, was Penelope Woods.
I wore an emerald-green velvet gown that cascaded to the floor like liquid royalty, a five-carat diamond ring glittering on my left hand, and my sharp espresso bob framing a face that commanded total, undisputed power.
The room held its breath.
Thomas sat at the back of the room, his arm in a sling, his head bowed in utter humiliation, serving as a living reminder of what happened to those who underestimated the woman beside Larkin.
Larkin stepped up to the microphone, his arm wrapping around my waist, pulling me close so the entire world could see.
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"Ladies and gentlemen," Larkin’s voice echoed with thunderous authority through the hall. "The Steves Syndicate has undergone a restructuring. From this day forward, Penelope Woods is not only my partner in business and blood. She is my wife, and the Co-Chair of everything we own. If you bow to me, you bow to her. If you cross her, you will not survive the night."
The silence in the grand ballroom was absolute—until old man Bellini stood up and began to clap. Within seconds, the entire room of ruthless predators rose to their feet, offering a deafening standing ovation to the woman they had once thought was just an invisible secretary.
