Blood Ledger The Minter's Rise

His men still had patches sewn onto their trousers.

I clapped my hands together.

"New shop opening! Five cooks, ten clerks, one manager needed! Three silver a month, plus commission! Sign on and get equity shares!"

The men standing behind Emilio visibly froze.

From the moment they'd arrived, their eyes had been drifting over to my people. Every few seconds, a flash of envy crossed their faces.

"Me!"

Someone was the first to throw down his club.

"Me too! Me too!"

"You—!"

One by one, the men around Emilio bolted toward me.

I waved them off with a laugh. "Too many, too many."

"I'm strong! Pick me!"

"I'll work part-time! I don't need the shares!"

Emilio's teeth ground together.

"You worthless dogs! Ungrateful scum!"

I looked up.

"Fine. I'll take all of you. Now, escort the prince consort back to his compound nice and safe. And while you're there, tell your brothers at the house that I'm hiring."

"Yes, sir!"

Emilio was dragged toward the car by his own men. He stared back at me, seething.

"You bastards! How dare you betray me! I'm the one who hired you! Let go of me!"

"Stop!"

A hand shot out, grabbed him, and pulled him behind her.

Before I could even register what was happening.

A slap cracked across my face.

Elena stared at me.

"You lowlife. How dare you."

I looked at her in disbelief.

The warmth and affection that once filled Elena's eyes when she looked at me were gone. Replaced by nothing but cold indifference.

She turned and bowed her head to Emilio.

"He was never properly disciplined. Offending you like this is unforgivable."

Emilio steadied her by the arm. He cast me a single frigid glance.

Elena spoke again.

"Everything Angelo just offered is void. All of you still work under Mr. Ferraro Sr. Anyone who tried to sign on with Angelo just now—"

She paused. The street went quiet. Even the wind off the harbor seemed to hold its breath.

"Stay behind. Thirty lashes each."

My eyes went wide.

"Elena!"

Even Emilio clearly hadn't expected it. After a beat of surprise, he turned to me with that trademark sneer of contempt.

"Then I thank the Don's daughter for her kindness."

Emilio climbed into the car and left.

The men were forced to the ground. Elena's own enforcers administered the lashes. Not a shred of mercy. Within minutes, the entire street echoed with screams.

"Please, have mercy! We'll never work for the prince consort again!"

"Never in this lifetime! Please, mercy!"

"Elena!"

I lunged forward, half out of my mind with fury.

A maidservant caught my arm and held me back.

"Please don't make things worse for yourself. Surely you know. The Don's daughter has been in love with your brother since they were children."

The air left my lungs.

I remembered asking her once whether she truly had feelings for me. That smile she gave. Saying nothing.

In that moment.

I understood.

I understood everything.

Elena's gaze settled on me. The noise of the beating behind her, the groaning men, the slap of leather on skin, none of it touched her face. She looked at me the way a capo looks at a name about to be struck from the books.

"You could have gone after anyone. But not him."

Her voice was ice.

"As of today, you and I are no longer husband and wife."

Because I'd poached her beloved's people, she'd sentenced our marriage to death.

I laughed. Bitter and hollow.

"Good. I didn't want to be your consort anyway."

In the span of half a year.

I'd received two divorce decrees.

Everything I'd earned through my own business. By the old arrangement between our families, it all belonged to the Castellano household. Elena tossed me half without a second thought. She was just like my brother. She looked down on every cent I'd made.

I secured a license for a trade route along the southern waterfront and started an operation on the river.

After that public beating in broad daylight, almost no one in Kingsport dared work for me anymore.