GRACE AND MARCUS POV
Marcus Stone left the way he'd arrived. Like smoke. Like something that never existed.
I stood in my bedroom staring at the secure phone he'd left me. A direct line to death itself. A lifeline I'd negotiated through desperation and strategy.
Two months.
I had two months to prove I could lead Father's empire. Two months to show the board I wasn't weak. Two months before Marcus Stone either closed the contract or completed it.
My hands shook. The reality of what I'd just done hit me in waves. I'd negotiated with an assassin. Convinced him to give me time instead of taking my life. Turned a killer into an observer.
Father's journal had been right. Marcus Stone could be reasoned with.
But now came the hard part. Now I had to actually prove I deserved to survive.
I called Tommy Vega. He answered immediately.
"You're alive."
"Marcus Stone was here."
Silence. Then: "How are you calling me if Marcus Stone was there?"
"Because I negotiated. He's giving me two months to prove myself. After that, he'll decide if the contract gets closed or completed."
Tommy's voice went cold. "You made a deal with a contract killer."
"I made a deal that bought me time. That's more than I had three hours ago." I looked at the secure phone. "Now I need to make that time count. The board meeting is in eight days. What do I need to do?"
"You need to show them strength. Prove you can make hard decisions. That you're willing to do what Vincent would have done." Tommy paused. "Grace, the board respects violence. They respect power. They don't respect negotiation."
"Then I'll give them something they can't ignore." I opened Father's journals to the page about board members. "Carlo Rossini is pushing hardest for my removal. He thinks I'm weak. What if I prove I know his secrets?"
"That's blackmail."
"That's leverage. Father taught me that real power comes from knowing what people want to hide." I read through Father's notes. "Carlo has a gambling problem. He's half a million in debt to underground casinos. If that gets out, he loses credibility with the board."
"You're going to expose him?"
"I'm going to remind him that keeping me alive is cheaper than having his secrets revealed." I closed the journal. "Set up a private meeting. Tomorrow. Just Carlo and me."
Tommy was quiet for a long moment. "This is risky. If Carlo feels threatened, he'll move against you faster."
"He's already moving against me. At least this way I control the conversation." I walked to the window. The city stretched below, full of people making choices between right and wrong. "Father said intelligence is more dangerous than violence. Time to prove he was right."
The meeting with Carlo Rossini took place in a neutral location. An Italian restaurant he controlled. Private room. No guards except the ones we each brought.
Carlo sat across from me looking confident. Amused. Like this meeting was entertainment instead of negotiation.
"Little Grace Morgan," he said with false warmth. "You wanted to talk. So talk."
I set a folder on the table between us. "I wanted to show you something."
Carlo opened the folder. His expression changed immediately. Inside were photographs. Carlo at underground casinos. Transaction records showing his debt. Loan documents signed with interest rates that would bankrupt him within a year.
"Where did you get this?"
"My father kept detailed files on everyone who worked for him. You should be grateful. If these photos reached the wrong people, you'd lose everything. Your position on the board. Your family's respect. Your life."
Carlo's face went red with rage. "Are you threatening me?"
"I'm reminding you that some secrets are worth protecting. And the person with the most to lose if I die is you." I leaned forward. "Vinny Jr. wants me dead so he can take power. If he succeeds, these files disappear. But if I survive, if I become the leader Father believed I could be, these secrets stay buried. Forever."
"You're blackmailing the board."
"I'm offering insurance. You support my leadership, I protect your secrets. Simple transaction." I closed the folder. "Father ran this organization through fear and violence. I'm going to run it through strategy and mutual benefit. Anyone who works with me profits. Anyone who works against me loses."
Carlo stared at me with an expression that mixed respect and hatred. "You're more like Vincent than anyone realized."
"No. I'm exactly what Father wanted me to be. Someone who understands that real power comes from knowing what people need and giving it to them before they even ask."
I stood and walked out before Carlo could respond.
Tommy was waiting by the car. "How did it go?"
"Carlo will support me at the board meeting. Or at least he won't openly oppose me." I slid into the car. "One down. Six more to go."
Over the next week, I met with every board member. Each meeting was the same. Show them what I knew. Remind them what I could do. Offer them something they needed while threatening something they feared.
James Sullivan needed money for his daughter's medical treatments. I offered him a bonus if he supported my leadership.
Anthony DeLuca was having an affair. I threatened to tell his wife unless he backed off.
One by one, the board members shifted from opposition to neutrality to cautious support.
By the time the board meeting arrived, I'd secured four votes. Still short of the majority I needed. But enough to prevent an immediate overthrow.
The meeting took place exactly two weeks after Father's funeral. I walked in wearing a black suit and my mother's wedding ring. No jewelry. No weakness.
The board members sat around the table looking uncertain. They'd expected me to fail. Expected me to run or hide or give up.
Instead I'd spent two weeks dismantling their certainty.
I sat at the head of the table. Father's chair. "Gentlemen, you gave me two weeks to prove myself. Here's what I've accomplished."
I presented my plan. Restructure operations to maximize profit and minimize exposure. Cut out the violent members who attracted federal attention. Focus on long-term strategy instead of short-term territory wars. Partner with legitimate businesses to launder money more efficiently.
It was everything Father had written about in his journals. Everything he'd been preparing to implement before he died.
The board listened in silence. When I finished, Carlo Rossini spoke first.
"The plan is sound. More sound than anything Vincent Jr. proposed." He looked around the table. "I support Grace Morgan's continued leadership."
One by one, the other board members agreed. Some reluctantly. Some with genuine respect. But by the end of the meeting, I had unanimous support.
For now.
Vinny Jr. stormed out without speaking. His rage was palpable. He'd expected victory and gotten defeat.
Tommy found me after the meeting. "You did it. You actually did it."
"I survived two weeks. That's different than succeeding." I looked at the secure phone Marcus Stone had given me. "And I still have seven weeks left on the contract."
"What if you can't prove yourself in that time?"
"Then I die knowing I tried."
That night I sat alone in my penthouse and called Marcus Stone on the secure line. He answered on the first ring.
"Status?"
"I survived the board meeting. I have unanimous support. The empire is stabilizing." I paused. "I'm doing what you told me to do. Proving I can lead."
"Good." His voice was quiet. Empty. "But surviving one meeting isn't the same as holding power. You have seven weeks left. Don't waste them."
"Marcus." I wasn't sure why I used his first name. "Why are you really giving me this chance? It can't just be about strategy."
Silence on the line. Then: "Because you asked me to give morality a chance. And no one's asked me that in thirteen years."
He hung up before I could respond.
I stared at the phone. Somewhere in this city, Marcus Stone was watching me. Judging every decision. Waiting to see if I'd prove him right or prove him wrong.
Seven weeks to transform from a mob princess into a leader strong enough to hold an empire together.
Seven weeks to show the world that intelligence was more powerful than violence.
Seven weeks to discover if Marcus Stone and I could both survive the choices we'd made.
The phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number.
Your brother knows about the extended contract. He's not happy. Be careful.
I set down the phone and walked to the window. The city glittered below. Beautiful and dangerous and full of people trying to survive just like me.
Somewhere out there, Vinny Jr. was planning his next move. The board was calculating their loyalty. Marcus Stone was watching to see if I'd fail.
And I was standing in my father's penthouse holding power I never wanted and a phone that connected me to the man sent to kill me.
Seven weeks left.
Time to prove that morality wasn't weakness.
Time to prove that some cages could only be escaped by someone willing to burn them down.
Time to discover if the most dangerous weapon really was a woman who refused to play by the rules.