Her and Dontrell loved Lennox but didn’t agree with the way he ran his Vegas empire. When Di Lucas found out that his son wasstaining what he’d built, he forced him out. Lennox went to war with the last Don of Vegas in a hostile takeover. Lennox’s biggest problem was greed. He believed that all money was good. He didn’t respect his father handing over the mafia to his youngest brother.
He accepted his L, went to Vegas, and had it on lock with drugs as well as sex trafficking. The sex trafficking business was what had his father disgusted. Not only did he have a huge hand in it, he had men going around kidnapping young women. It was the final straw for his father, and it hurt Di Lucas to disown his first-born, but he did. Even now, Di Lucas’ nostrils flared out in disgust as he turned and gave his son his back to look at.
Fuck that old nigga, he’ll be in hell soon too…Lennox thought as he swallowed the painful lump that rose up his throat. It had been over twenty years without having his father acknowledge him. He refused to go back down memory lane and try to right his wrongs with the old man.
Lennox tucked all of his emotions, his face set in stone. He leaned down and pecked Lucille on her forehead then smiled sinisterly.
“Don’t forget who saved you, beautiful.” He moved a loose strand of Lucille’s hair out of her face. His cold lips grazed against her earlobe as he continued to taunt her. “I don’t want shit in Cali, but if I did…you know you wouldn’t be able to hold a candle in front of me without it blowing out.” He snapped his callous fingers.
“I know how you feel about Kentrell…it is his rightful place to step into Donnie’s shoes. Don’t make the same mistake my sperm donor made and hand it over to Di Luca. We wouldn’twant history repeating itself.” He inhaled her floral scent, pleased with himself.
“Oh Lenny,” Lucille sung his name out in a sweet tone before looking him directly in the eyes. “I find it admirable how you love on Kentrell. Do let me be very clear right now and lay it all out in the mud.” She dragged her red bottom heels across the mud before letting the stiletto sink in the grass, the front of her shoe landed on top of his freshly shined boots. Lucille leaned forward in her plastic seat to apply pressure on Lennox’s big toe with a devilish smirk contorting her beautiful soft face.
“I’m very appreciative and will never forget about the past and our possible future. I just hope your memory is as sharp as mine.” She chuckled dryly.
“Di Luca Jr. will be the next Don of Cali. If anyone thinks otherwise, there’ll be bloodshed like you’ve never witnessed before. You should know that I, out of all people, will always remain ten steps ahead.” She paused from talking and sniffed the air.
“I smell something funny close to me. I pray what I smell is just grievances but then again, a woman like me has never prayed…so I could be wrong.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m willing to join my husband in hell behind my son. If anybody goes against him…” She clicked her teeth and turned away from Lennox.
There was no point in her completing her sentence. Lucille was positive he caught her drift. She also was aware that Lennox knew how weak Kentrell was. Her first born wasn’t fit to rule, and it wasn’t just because of his drug usage. Lennox chose the weak brother to step into his brother’s shoes because he’d be able to control Kentrell, his so-called favorite nephew.
“Very well,sis.” He straightened his posture and crossed his hands in front of him.
The other Don’s stood around Dontrell Sr.’s grave then turned to face Lucille. Standing in formation, this was the part when they made their alliance crystal clear. If anyone of them refused to step into formation and recognize her, it would mean they wouldn’t be in alliance. It was time for them to approach her and kiss the back of her delicate hand.
“Just remember how?—”
“I already have a woman for my son to marry. I’d never forget Di Luca’s as well as the other Don’s way of doing things. Dismiss yourself, now.”
Lucille took a brief moment to look up into Lennox’s eyes. She saw challenge, regret, and rejection in them. In every blood-built empire that called itself a mafia family, a man could not rise to the rank of Don until he had a wife beside him.
It wasn’t written in any rulebook, nor oath, but it was understood deeply within the culture that a leader without a woman wasn’t yet complete. To the outside world, the requirement looked like tradition, a ceremonial box to check before inheriting power. But inside the circles that moved in silence, the truth ran much deeper.
A wife displayed a Don’s discipline. His ability to choose loyalty over lust, commitment over chaos. She was proof that he could protect something fragile and soft without breaking it. She showed the men beneath him that he didn’t rule from impulse, he ruled from foundation.
A wife’s presence beside a Don displayed balance. His brutality measured by her grace, his authority sharpened by her intuition.She wasn’t beside him to simply decorate his arm. She was the mirror that reflected what kind of man he truly was.
A Don alone was dangerous…but a Don with a woman beside him was unstoppable. Lucille already chose Di Luca Jr.’s soon-to-be wife. She knew her son needed a woman that lacked less emotion because her son moved without them. She also knew that her son would have many other women like his father. So, he needed a woman fit for a man of Di Luca’s caliber.
Most mother’s thought they knew their kids better then they knew themselves. Lucille was certain that she knew Di Luca well but would soon see in the near future that she didn’t know shit besides giving birth to a thoroughbred demon.
Chapter 1
The Gates Open- January 5th, 2026
The sun hit different when you hadn’t seen it without steel bars slicing through it. Luca still felt the warmth on his face through his thick matted dreads that swung in front of him with each step he took to freedom. After seven long years, he was finally able to hear the sound of the prison gates rolling behind him.
He stepped forward with a measured calm, shoulders broad outside of the crisp white beater that clung to his chest and sharp abs. With his hands tucked calmly inside of his creased dickie pants, he looked back at the guards who avoided eye contact with him. His sinister smile hid behind his dreads. It was Luca’s silence that unsettled all of the guards as much as his reputation.
With him gone, the murder rate behind bars would surely go down. Luca inhaled the air outside and tasted his freedom. There was a lot that seven years could do to a man. With no family, no one to trust behind bars. His time served turned him into steel. Traces of his past and the soft parts that he kept locked away inside of him from when he was a kid felt erased.
His jaw carried the shadow of a permanent clench, and then there was the deep scar along the curve of his throat, jagged and discolored. A person would have to be up close and personal to notice it due to all the tattoos that he had from the neck down. No one but his mother and father knew about how his scar came about.
At the bottom of the prison steps, a sleek black Maybach waited. Luca’s chest tightened at the sight of it.
“Just ’cause you not here, son, don’t mean we not thinking about you. I got you a boss ass whip for your birthday. Ya momma got a couple of tricks up her sleeves for you…you’ll be home in no time.”
His father’s words replayed fresh in his mind. It was a gift for his 30thbirthday. His parent’s sent him pictures of the car; it wasn’t the materialistic gift that made his heart smile. It was the thought from the gift itself that made Luca happy. It gave him hope that he would have freedom to enjoy his brand-new car.
