Chapter 3 New Territory
Xavier's POV
The smoke curled lazily from my cigar, rising toward the high ceiling of the suite. From the floor-to-ceiling window, I could see the city stretched before me, a restless beast waiting to be tamed. And I would tame it.
“Boss,” Lucas’s voice broke the silence behind me. “Five supermodels are lined up downstairs. All you have to do is pick one. Or…” He paused, almost smiling. “You could have them all.”
I didn’t turn to look at him. I took a slow drag, the ember glowing red. The hotel below was mine now, bought not for its glamour but for the underground basement. That would soon become a clubhouse, a place where real deals would go on like an underworld.
“Lucas,” I said softly, my voice calm.
“Yes, boss.”
I turned then, facing him. He waited, expecting me to speak of the women. But that wasn’t what weighed on my mind.
“I need a new cigar,” I said, flicking ash into the tray. My lips curled. “But more importantly, I need a new territory.”
Lucas straightened, clearing his throat nervously. “Right away, boss. But… about territory—you just acquired a new one.”
I exhaled a cloud of smoke, watching it dance in the air before fading. My eyes narrowed. “I am insatiable when it comes to territory.”
“Yes, boss,” he murmured quickly. Then he hesitated. “And… about the models—”
I cut him off with a sharp wave of my hand. “I’m not interested.”
Lucas blinked, unsure. “Are you sure you don’t want to at least look at them?”
My brows furrowed. Slowly, I began walking toward him. Each step I took, he stepped back. He knew better than to test my patience.
When I stopped in front of him, I brushed a speck of dust off his collar. My hand lingered a moment too long, and Lucas swallowed hard.
“Do you want to know how I became one of the most powerful mafia don?” I asked, my voice low.
His eyes widened, and he nodded. “Yes, boss.”
“Because I have no weaknesses,” I said, leaning closer. “That involves mastering my sexual desires. It makes men do stupid things. One of those women downstairs could be a spy. An assassin. A bullet dressed in silk. And a weak man wouldn’t see it until it was too late.”
Lucas’s voice trembled. “I—I ran their backgrounds. Interviewed them. I trust them.”
“Good,” I said with a thin smile. I let go of his collar, but my words hit harder than my grip ever could. “Then you will fuck them. All of them. Tonight.”
His eyes widened. “Boss—”
“Did I stutter?”
He shook his head quickly. His face had gone pale.
Before he could speak again, my ears caught the sharp crack of gunfire ripped through the night.
I turned to the window, squinting.
The streets below was filled up with chaos.
“Who dares shoot in my territory?” I muttered, my hand tightening around the cigar.
Lucas rushed ahead of me, peering through the glass. His face drained of color. “I… I forgot to mention, boss. Two mafia groups are at war here. They don’t know you’ve already claimed the territory.”
I stepped closer to the window. On one side, a group of men in black singlets, carrying guns.
On the other, shirtless men with machine guns, roaring like animals.
I smiled, smoke curling from my lips. “So. They are fighting for a territory that already belongs to me.”
“Exactly, boss,” Lucas whispered.
“Good,” I said. My voice was calm, but excitement stirred in my chest. “Get me my coat. We’re going to say hello.”
Lucas stumbled toward the chair and grabbed the black coat I’d tossed there earlier.
He held it out with trembling hands. “Should I call the men?”
I slipped into the coat, the fabric was heavy, just the way I like it. I adjusted the cuffs slowly, deliberately.
“No men,” I said, my smile cold. “Just us.”
Lucas froze. “But… boss,” I gave him a hard stare. "Yes, boss," he corrected.
We left the suite and stepped into the elevator.
Lucas shifted from one foot to the other, his eyes darting toward me but never daring to meet mine.
When the doors parted, the lobby was filled with tension.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, exhaling smoke as I answered.
“Boss…” a shaky male voice came through the line. One of my capos. His breathing was ragged. “It’s bad. Really bad.”
“Calm down,” I said, my tone flat. “Talk.”
“They… they arrested Tilda,” he stammered. “The police, they found a stash of drugs in her car.”
My jaw clenched. Tilda. One of my best accountants. She didn’t touch drugs, she touched numbers, and she was the best at it. If they planted something on her, it wasn’t by accident.
“Then go get her out,” I said evenly, flicking ash from my cigar.
There was a pause, then his voice rolled in. “Boss… it’s not that simple. The station they took her to, it’s Iron King.”
My steps slowed. Even Lucas looked at me from the corner of his eye, startled.
Iron King. The federal fortress. No one walked in there and came back out.
The man on the line swallowed hard, his voice breaking. “It’s impossible, boss. Nobody survives once they’re in Iron King.”
I drew in a deep drag of smoke. “No problem,” I said softly. “I will handle it.”
I slipped the phone back into my coat pocket and resumed walking.
The receptionist, a young woman with trembling hands, froze mid-gesture as I walked past.
Her eyes widened, and she lowered her gaze instantly.
Even the guards at the front desk stiffened, their knuckles white against their radios.
I stopped, turned slightly. “Lucas.”
“Yes, boss,” he answered quickly.
“You’re not coming with me.”
His brows furrowed, confusion breaking across his face. “Boss…?”
“You’ll stay here and watch.” My voice was calm, but my tone left no room for argument.
He swallowed hard, the protest dying in his throat. “Yes, boss.”
I continued forward. The air grew colder with every step I took, the silence heavy, broken only by the faint sound of gunfire echoing from outside.
I could see fear written on the faces of the people at the lobby.
As I reached the glass doors, the staff shrank back. Fear took hold of them.
They weren’t afraid of the men outside. They were afraid of me.
The doors parted with a hiss, and the night air rushed in.
I stepped into the street, the chaos laid bare before me.
The two groups were seconds away from tearing each other apart.
I could hear their shouts, curses, the metallic click of magazines.
And then they saw me.
