Chapter 93 The Lion's Roar
Lord Zeus’s POV
“Play it again.”
The butler nodded and rewound the recording. The private dining room fell silent. Then the gunshot rang out through the speakers.
I watched the screen, I saw how Giovanni froze mid-step, and Sophia fell on her ass. I watched my son sit there with that cigarette dangling from his lips and death in his eyes.
And I laughed. It was a deep, genuine laughter that came from my chest and filled the entire room. Pride beamed through me like sunlight, warming parts of my soul I’d thought had gone cold decades ago.
“Magnificent,” I breathed, watching Gavin’s face on the screen. “Absolutely magnificent.”
“I didn’t bring this matter for you to laugh, Zeus.” Dante Moretti’s voice cut through my mirth like a blade.
I looked at him…standing rigid by the fireplace in my Colombian estate, his expensive suit doing nothing to hide the fury radiating from every pore.
Beside him, Giovanni stood with his jaw clenched, his hands fisted at his sides.
“That is my main source of income,” Dante continued, his Italian accent thickening with rage. “My family’s legacy for three generations. How is it even possible? How could he just…” He gestured violently at the screen. “How?”
I leaned back in my chair, still smiling. “Have you forgotten it’s Gavin we speak of? My son? The boy I raised and trained personally?”
“Your son just stole our ports!” Giovanni exploded. “Every single one from Miami to New York! Do you understand what that means?”
“I understand perfectly.” I poured myself another whiskey, savoring the burn. “It means he’s finally remembered who he is.”
“You should be grateful you have such a competent leader,” I added, swirling my glass.
“GRATEFUL?” Dante’s face went purple. “GRATEFUL?! Give me back my fucking port or your son is dead! I’m not doing this family bullshit again! We had an agreement! The Five Families…”
“The Five Families exist because I allow them to exist,” I said quietly, all traces of humor gone from my voice.
The room went silent.
Dante stared at me, breathing hard.
“You seem to have forgotten,” I continued, setting down my glass with careful precision. “That before there were Five Families, there was just me. Just Zeus. Building an empire from nothing while your grandfather was still running numbers in Naples.”
I stood slowly, feeling the weight of my years but also the weight of my power.
“I brought your family into this alliance. I gave you the ports. I made you who you are. And what I give…” I walked toward Dante, my steps measured, “…I can take away.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Dante said, but his voice wavered.
“Wouldn’t I?” I stopped in front of him. “Tell me, Dante. Who is capable of taking every port you control in three months without you noticing until it’s already done?”
Silence.
“Only one man,” I answered my own question. “Only Gavin. My son. The heir I trained. The king I created.”
“This is insane,” Giovanni said. “Does that mean he can destroy us all in minutes? Where is the balance? Where is the order? If he can take our ports, what’s stopping him from taking everything else?”
“Nothing,” I said simply. “Nothing is stopping him. That’s the point.”
I walked back to my chair and sat, feeling every one of my seventy-three years settle into my bones.
“Be calm, Dante,” I said, my voice returning to its usual measured tone. “This is actually good news.”
“Good news?” Dante looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “How is this good news?”
“Because it means Gavin is finally taking us seriously. Isn’t that what we always wanted.”
“He just declared war on us,” Giovanni said flatly.“So what do we do? Just let him keep our ports?”
“No,” I said. “We bring him home. We remind him where his true loyalty lies. We show him that no matter how far he runs, he’s still one of us.”
I stood again and walked to the window, looking out at the Colombian mountains that had been my home for half a century.
“Bring the girl,” I said quietly. “And her mother.”
“What?” Dante’s voice was sharp.
“You heard me.” I didn’t turn around. “Bring Melissa Hayes and Diana Hayes here. To Colombia. To me.”
“Zeus, kidnapping them will…”
“Will force Gavin’s hand,” I interrupted. “If the whole family is here Gavin will follow. By all means necessary.”
I turned to face them.
“You can’t fight Gavin on his territory. You can’t outmaneuver him in New York” I gestured around us. “Here, I control everything.”
Giovanni looked at his father, then back at me. “When do you want them?”
“Soon.” I walked back to my desk and pulled out a folder, handing it to Dante. “I want them here within the week.”
“And the ports?” Dante asked, taking the folder.
“You want your ports back? Help me bring my son home.”
I looked at both of them.
I walked back to my chair and sat down, suddenly tired.
“Go,” I said. “Make the arrangements. And Dante?”
He looked at me.
“Be careful with them. I don’t want anyone harmed. Not yet. We can’t have him losing control.”
Dante nodded slowly.
Giovanni and Dante left without another word.
I sat alone in the dimness, watching the recording play one more time.
The gunshot. The smoke. The absolute certainty in Gavin’s eyes.
Pride swelled in my chest again.
That was my boy. My son. My heir.
He’d forgotten for a while. Forgotten who he was. What he was capable of.
But he was remembering now.
And when he finally came home…and he would come home…I would welcome him with open arms.
Then together, we would remind the world why the name Zeus meant power.
Why the crowned lion ruled over all.
I raised my glass to the frozen image of my son.
“Come home, Gavin,” I whispered. “Come home and claim your throne.”
Then I drank, savoring the burn, already planning the reunion that would either unite my family forever.
Or tear the entire world apart.
Either way, it would be magnificent.