Chapter 23
Silas stumbled backward, his hand fumbling desperately for a small revolver hidden in his coat. "Stay back!" he screamed, his voice cracking with panic. Domenico advanced slowly, his long dark coat billowing in the ocean breeze. He looked at Silas with eyes devoid of any human empathy. "You brought a child into a war," Domenico whispered, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, deadly frequency. "You crossed the line of the old rules. There is no commission to protect you now." Silas raised the shaking revolver, pointing it directly at Domenico's chest. "I built this city! You are nothing but a street thug in a tailored suit!" Domenico didn't flinch. He didn't stop walking. He closed the final few feet, reaching out with blinding speed to grab the cylinder of the revolver, preventing it from turning. Silas gasped, struggling weakly against Domenico's iron grip. With a sudden, violent twist, Domenico disarmed the old man, tossing the gun into the dark water below. He grabbed Silas by the lapels of his coat, lifting him slightly off the ground. The old man choked, his eyes bulging in fear. "Your city belongs to me now," Domenico stated coldly. He didn't use a weapon. He simply shoved the patriarch backward with immense force. Silas stumbled, tripped over the edge of the pier, and plummeted into the freezing, black waters below, swallowed instantly by the dark tide.
