Chapter 5 - Unraveling the Dixons
Gwen, completely oblivious to her fiancé’s sudden paralysis, scoffed loudly and took another step up the porch. "What are you waiting for, Marco?! Shoot the damn mutt! We have lunch reservations at one!"
"Gwen... shut up," Marco croaked, his voice barely a breath.
"What did you say to me?!" Gwen shrieked, her eyes widening in disbelief. "Don't you dare speak to me like that! My father is—"
"I said SHUT UP!" Marco roared, turning around and backhanding Gwen across the face with such force that she stumbled off the steps and crashed into the wet lawn, her fur coat soaking up the mud.
The entire street went dead silent. Big Dan Dixon’s jaw dropped. The gang members standing on the lawn exchanged panicked, bewildered looks.
Gwen sat up in the mud, holding her bleeding cheek, her eyes wide with shock and fury. "Marco?! Are you insane?! I’m your fiancée! My father will kill you for this! He'll wipe Silver Blade off the map!"
Marco didn't listen to her. He dropped his gun onto the wooden floorboards of the porch, fell heavily onto his knees, and pressed his forehead against the damp welcome mat at Kayla’s feet.
"Forgive us, Ma'am," Marco choked out, his whole body trembling violently. "I didn't know. I swear on my mother's grave, I had no idea who was living here. The Dixons... they lied to us! They told us you were nobody!"
Kayla didn't tell him to stand up. She stood over him, her shadow dark and cold.
"Wilton," Kayla called softly toward the open front door.
Wilton stepped out onto the porch, carrying a dark leather folder. He handed it to Kayla without a word.
Kayla opened the folder, pulling out three glossy sheets of paper. She looked down at Marco.
"Ten years ago, my husband, Richard, spared Arthur Vane’s life," Kayla said, her voice smooth and measured. "He gave him the lower east district on one condition: that his people never cross the river, and that they never touch the innocent."
She tossed the papers onto Marco’s back. They were financial records, illegal wiretaps, and real estate deeds.
"Your future father-in-law has been stealing from the dockworkers' pension fund for three years," Kayla continued. "He thought because Richard was dead, no one was watching. He thought because I moved to this quiet street, the Iron Widow had retired."
Gwen, still sitting in the mud, froze at the name. The Iron Widow.
The legendary name whispered in dark rooms by every high-ranking mobster in the state. The woman who had quietly run the entire East Coast underworld behind her husband's throne, and who had personally executed six family bosses in one night when Richard was assassinated.
Gwen looked at the plain woman in the gray wool sweater, then at the old dog sitting peacefully beside her, and her breath hitched in her throat.
"Please... Ma'am..." Marco sobbed, his face still pressed against the floor. "Give us a chance to make it right."
Kayla looked past Marco, her eyes landing on Big Dan Dixon and his family standing on the neighboring porch. Big Dan was trembling so hard he had to hold onto the porch railing to keep from falling.
"The Dixon family," Kayla said softly.
"They're gone, Ma'am," Marco said instantly, raising his head, his eyes bloodshot with desperate resolve. "By tonight, their house will be seized. Every debt Big Dan owes will be called in. They won't have a penny left to their name, and they will leave this state on foot."
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"No... please!" Big Dan screamed from his porch, dropping to his knees. "We didn't know! It was just a dog! It was just a stupid dog!"
"It was never just a dog," Kayla whispered.
