Page 106 of The Owner's Temptation

Because when things fall apart, they never do it all at once. First, there’s a wobble. Then a crack. Then the foundation buckles.

By day three, the ground starts to shift.

Two of my major suppliers pull the plug. No explanation. No apology. Just a call from their legal departments and a sharp, impersonal goodbye.

I make calls—quiet ones. Push through backchannels and old debts. No one wants to say what I already know.

One of my clubs in SoHo goes dark for the night. A shipment was “delayed.” The excuse is sloppy, the lie obvious.

And now?

The Masquerade is running low on premium stock.

Thatgets my attention.

The Masq doesn’trun outof anything. Especially not the high-end inventory. That floor runs like a machine—flawless, indulgent, and silent.

But the cracks are forming there too.

So I strategize.

I don’t flinch. I don’t bark. I start moving pieces. Calling in favors. Securing secondary suppliers. Old contacts I haven't spoken to in years suddenly find themselves back in my orbit.

Because my empire won’t crumble.

Not while I still draw breath.

But deep down, I know what this is.

This is Lorenzo tightening the noose. Cutting me off at the knees without ever stepping into the ring.

No threats. Mateo was an example to the others.

Lorenzo is sitting back now with nothing but silence surrounding him—and the slow, deliberate collapse of my support.

He’s isolating me.

Trying to see how far he can push before I break.

But he should know better.

I wasn’t mafia royalty like him—handed an empire, born to rule it with Daddy’s blessing and an army of yes-men at his back.

No.

I was an eight year old boy who watched his father swallow a bullet to pay back a debt.

A boy that served in the mafia’s ranks, until the little prince got scared the empire would be given to me, instead of him.

But I didn’t want that. I left. Left Lorenzo to his inheritance and built my own empire

One built from blood and grit.

I clawed my way up with broken knuckles and broken rules.

And I’ll survivehim.

I just have to make sure the city survivesus.

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