Cast Out as Old-Fashioned, I Watched the Mafia Fall Apart Chapter 08
The room was silent and no one dared answer.
Robbie’s hand froze in midair, and he could neither pull it back nor leave it there.
I didn’t look at any of them again. I walked out.
Outside the Vincent Family headquarters, the afternoon sunlight touched my face.
I took out my phone, found Grayson’s number, and called.
He picked up almost instantly.
“Made up your mind?” There was a smile in Grayson’s voice.
“I have.” I hailed a car at the curb and opened the door. “The port arrangement. I think we can talk.”
The car pulled away, and the headquarters building receded behind me.
The mess in there had nothing to do with me anymore.
And my life was only beginning.
In fact, Grayson had called me days earlier.
He had repeatedly invited me to join the West Side alliance, and he had been blunt about it.
“Iris, I won’t promise you an easy win here. What I can promise is that on the West Side, no one’s relatives are parachuted into top jobs, and no subordinates are waiting to stab you in the back.
“Here, your ability decides how much territory you control. In this business, strength does the talking. If you’re willing, come to West Side headquarters anytime.”
Standing outside West Side headquarters, I had the strange feeling that I was back at the docks ten years earlier.
I had been raw and reckless then, with nothing but the drive to push forward. Now I was steady and capable, with real strength to rely on.
My age and experience had changed, but not the fire in me.
All I had ever wanted was to carve out a place of my own on my own merits.
Grayson was not surprised to see me, as though he had counted on my coming.
In his office, he handed me a file immediately, his expression serious.
“I wanted to hand you the entire port transfer line outright. You certainly have the standing for it. But the old guard under me is set in its ways and won’t truly accept you until they see what you can do. Take this job. Pull it off, and they’ll all shut up.
“The target is the North Shore route. You’ve heard of it. I trust you can handle it.”
I nodded.
He paused and added, “But… word is the Vincent Family has its eye on the same route. Are you sure that won’t be a problem?”
I tightened my grip on the file and kept my voice calm.
“Don’t worry. I have no ties left to them.”
The West Side team really was different. Every member was practical and efficient, and their coordination was seamless, saving me a great deal of effort.
More surprising was that they trusted me completely.
When I asked why, one of them laughed.
“You’re Iris. The legend who stormed the docks alone to save a Don and opened the north-south route by sheer force. Who in this business doesn’t know what you can do?”
There was a time when my age made me doubt myself.
Only then did I understand that “old” was never a flaw. It was merely the insult used by people who could not match me.
For the next few days, my team and I worked around the clock, polishing the proposal, testing the routes, and preparing for everything.
Then, the night before the negotiation, my phone lit up with a message from Vincent.
“Iris, you gave this Family ten years and made enormous contributions. What happened was my fault. I treated you unfairly.
“I won’t presume to ask you back. While clearing out the office, I found the gun you carried at the docks in those days. If you have time, come pick it up. You may want it as a keepsake.”
After weighing it for a long time, I went to the Vincent Family headquarters.
That gun was the first one I ever received in this business. It had been with me through the ten years that took me from a nobody to where I stood now, and it meant a great deal to me.
When I arrived, the office was empty.
A message came from Vincent.
“I’m in a meeting with the elders and can’t get away. It’s in the leftmost drawer of my office. Help yourself. I won’t be able to see you.”
Without giving it much thought, I opened the door to the Don’s office and went inside.
I opened the drawer. The gun lay inside.
I had barely lifted it out before Vincent burst in with five men, guns pointed at me.
“Restrain her! She broke into the Don’s office to steal sensitive information. Throw her into the sea to feed the fish!”
