Chapter 14 - THE BLOOD ON THE MAHOGANY FLOORS AND THE REDEMPTION OF THE FALLEN
The library was a scene of frantic,
undignified panic when I arrived.
Vane and the other two members of the Council were pacing the floor,
their expensive suits rumpled,
their faces masks of terror.
They had forgotten that while I was in a chair,
I still controlled the technology that governed their lives.
The reinforced doors were sealed,
the windows were shuttered with steel plates,
and the air conditioning had been turned off,
making the room feel like a pressure cooker.
"Danny,
let's be reasonable,"
Vane said,
his voice cracking as I rolled into the center of the room.
"We were only thinking of the future.
The business needs a strong hand."
"And you thought a traitor like Marcus was a strong hand?"
I asked,
my gun resting on my lap,
my eyes cold.
"You thought you could trade my life and the life of a girl who has done nothing to you for a few extra percentage points on the docks?"
I looked around at the books,
the art,
the history that I had accumulated,
and I realized it was all meaningless.
It was just paint and paper,
a distraction from the fact that I was a man who had built his life on the suffering of others.
"The business is dead,"
I said,
and for the first time,
I felt a sense of relief.
"I'm liquidating everything.
The accounts,
the properties,
the shipments.
It’s all going to be dissolved."
"You can't do that!"
one of the other Council members shouted.
"That’s hundreds of millions of dollars!"
"It's blood money,"
I said,
feeling the weight of the signet ring on my finger.
"And I’m done paying the price for it."
I raised the gun,
and for a moment,
the room was silent.
I didn't want to kill them;
I wanted them to live with the knowledge that they had lost everything to the man they had pitied.
"Get out,"
I said,
opening the doors.
"The guards are gone.
The gates are open.
Leave this house,
leave this city,
and if I ever hear your names again,
I won't be in a chair when we meet."
They didn't wait for a second invitation.
They scrambled out of the library like rats leaving a sinking ship,
leaving me alone in the quiet ruins of my office.
I looked at the desk,
at the phone that was ringing with calls from captains and rivals,
May you like
and I let it ring.
I had a more important destination.
