Chapter 8 - The Commission’s Reckoning
Luca and two enforcers bounded up the stairs, securing Tommy Brooks in heavy zip-ties and dragging him down to the concrete floor like a sack of dirty laundry.
Tommy lay groaning, clutching his bleeding shoulder, staring up at Adrian with sheer terror. “Vale... please. I was just the machinist! Moretti set the whole thing up! There’s a ledger in the safe! Every syndicate boss who bought custom boilers from me is in there!”
Adrian didn't look at Tommy. He walked over to Emma, who was trembling, staring at the shattered remains of her family’s legacy. He gently wrapped his long wool coat around her shoulders, pulling her against his side.
“Open the safe, Luca,” Adrian ordered.
Five minutes later, Luca handed Adrian a leather-bound black notebook pulled from the hidden floor safe beneath the lathe. Adrian flipped through the pages, his expression growing darker with every entry.
“Detroit. New York. Philadelphia. Kansas City,” Adrian read aloud, disgust dripping from every syllable. “Frank Moretti wasn't just planning a coup in Chicago. He was selling political assassinations to syndicates across the nation, using custom brass coffee machines and espresso units to slowly sicken leaders who refused to enter the synthetic narcotics trade.”
Adrian looked down at Tommy. “Your brother Arthur was a master craftsman who built honest machines for honest working people. You turned his art into a coward’s weapon.”
“What are you going to do to me?” Tommy sobbed, groveling on the concrete.
Adrian turned to Emma. “It’s your family shop, Emma. It’s your father’s name. What do you want done with him?”
Emma looked at her uncle—the man who had abandoned her, dishonored her father, and nearly killed the man who had given her a reason to live.
“Give the ledger to the Federal prosecutors,” Emma said, her voice ringing clear and steady through the cavernous workshop. “Anonymously. Let the feds tear apart every syndicate in that book. And put Tommy in federal prison for the rest of his miserable life. Killing him is too easy. Let him sit in a concrete cell knowing he destroyed himself for nothing.”
Adrian smiled—a fierce, admiring look that made her heart soar. “You heard the lady, Luca. Call our contact at the FBI field office. Leave the ledger and Tommy on their front steps tonight.”
As Luca dragged Tommy out into the bitter cold, Adrian took Emma by both hands, standing in the middle of the quiet, empty shop.
“Tomorrow,” Adrian said softly, “the demolition crews arrive. We tear this entire building down to the bedrock. And right here, on this exact corner, we build the premier espresso machinery manufacturing company in the United States. Brooks Engineering. Owned and operated entirely by Emma Brooks.”
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Emma gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. “Adrian... that would cost millions.”
“I have millions,” Adrian replied, stepping closer, his dark eyes brimming with an emotion that no amount of money could ever purchase. “And I intend to spend every single dollar keeping you by my side.”
