Chapter 12 - The Five Families Conclave and the Sovereign Ultimatum
The following afternoon, the grand ballroom of the Oheka Castle estate on Long Island was guarded by fifty heavily armed soldiers.
Inside sat the heads of the four other New York families: Lucchese, Genovese, Gambino, and Bonanno. They had seen the disarmed C4 charges pulled from the cathedral undercroft. They had seen the video files recovered from Elena’s memory card.
I walked into the room alone, dropping Marco Ricci’s ledger onto the center of the mahogany conference table.
"Marco Ricci and Victor Vance are dead," I announced to the silent room. "The shadow syndicate has been dismantled. The federal indictments against the dirty precinct commanders will hit the press tomorrow morning."
Don Lucchese, the eighty-year-old elder of the commission, stood up slowly. "Salvatore... you saved the lives of every man in this room and our families. What does the Leone family demand in return?"
May you like
"Nothing," I said, shocking every boss at the table. "The Leone family is retiring from the street rackets. We are closing down the loan-sharking, the numbers, and the protection territories. Queens is no longer mob territory. It belongs to the people who live there. If any family crosses that bridge to shake down a business, you will answer to me personally."
Lucchese bowed his head with deep solemnity. "It is agreed. Queens is sovereign ground."
