Sitting at the end of a long, polished walnut conference table, I steeple my fingers and consider the men gathered before me. On one side, I see John Landry, Stephan Trahan, and Aloysius Guidry. They are the remaining mob bosses in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. The three men stare me down, their very demeanors threatening.

On the other side, I have representatives from the big cartels in Mexico and Columbia, Mario Mantega, Julio Baird, and César Till. The cartel guys don’t want to be here but can’t afford to be cut out of the profits from New Orleans.

Like their American counterparts, they are here because I promised them safety for today. That, and I promised that they wouldn’t want to miss what I have to offer.

After today, I think they will sit up and listen easier when I speak. A lot of money is about to flow their way… right after they agree to my terms. And before I list my terms, I have something to show them.

Someone, that is.

At the moment, they are all silent, six pairs of eyes glued on me. I rock back in my chair, eyeing them all contemplatively.

“I don’t think it comes as a surprise to any of you that I’ve staked a claim here in New Orleans,” I say slowly, my gaze lingering on each of the New Orleanians faces. “In fact, I would wager that it is more than fair to say that I have taken the underworld here by a bloody coup. Is that not so?”

As expected, the men from New Orleans dislike me and everything I have to say. I can read it written all over their taciturn expressions, their crossed arms. Staring them down, I wait for one of them to say something.

Honestly, I fucking dare them. But they are all silent, keeping their thoughts to themselves for just now.

Julio Baird speaks up. “You got a point, gabacho?”

Favoring him with a smug smile, I nod. “I called you all here today to discuss the terms of the deal we’ve been working on for two months. But first, I want you to meet someone.”

Turning my head, I motion to the bodyguard standing at the door of the conference room. “Get Fiore and bring her here to me.”

He nods, letting himself out of the door. I had to threaten Fiore with the box beneath her bed and hurting her precious dog to get her ready for what’s about to happen. Now she’ll enter, and I will get a priceless memento just by looking at the faces of the men from New Orleans.

John Landry fidgets with his tie, annoyed. “Look, I’ve got someplace to be—”

The door opens. I lean forward just a bit, anticipating. The men turn to look at the doorway and see Fiore in all her naked glory. She’s on all fours, being led by one of my guards on a metal chain dog leash attached to a metal chain collar.

The guard holds the leash up high so that Fiore has to march along with her head held high, blushing so hard that she looks like she’s going to melt the collar. Her tits have faint smudges of blue bruises, and there is the outline of a handprint on her ass.

If it weren’t for the men assembled here, I wouldn’t ignore the growing erection in my slacks. She’s humiliated, which gets me even harder than usual whenever I see her.

As she is led around the table, all the men stare at her, perplexed. Only one of the New Orleans men even recognizes her.

“Is that… That’s not Katherine Carolla, is it?” Aloysius Guidry mutters, almost to himself.

Fiore jerks at the use of her old name, but the guard keeps pulling her toward me. I sigh.

“It is indeed,” I inform him, smiling. “Although I’ve given her a new name. Haven’t I, Fiore?”

The men next to Guidry are puzzled. “Who?”

A flash of disgust crosses his features. “Sal Carolla, who disappeared a couple months ago? This is his daughter.”

“I saved her,” I announce as she crawls around to me. I take her leash, ignoring the hate swirling around in her beautiful blue eyes. “She’s the only one left, as far as I know.”

That’s not entirely true, but it’s all that they need to know. I bring her to heel, using the leash to guide her to a kneeling position beside me. Half of the men are still staring at Fiore’s nudity, and she is obviously extremely ashamed.

One tiny part of me already regrets letting anyone who isn’t me see her like this. But I push that aside. It’s important to make my point now that she’s here.

“Who is she?” Mario Mantega says, looking perplexed.

“This is the daughter of the man that stood in the way of me taking over New Orleans,” I explain as if he is a little slow. “Her family abandoned her. Sold her at auction. And I took her in, to be my very special pet. Isn’t that right, Fiore?”

I glance down at her and see tears breaking free to run down her face. She doesn’t move, doesn’t acknowledge me otherwise. She just sits with her hands covering her lap, letting the tears escape unscathed.

“Fiore is a little upset with me right now,” I say with a casual shrug. “But I have brought here in here for a reason.”

I lean down, my fingers finding the back of Fiore’s neck. Squeezing the flesh hard until she cries out, I smile again. “I want you to realize just who I am. I don’t want any confusion about exactly what I will do to you or anyone else who stands in my way. You all have people in your life like Fiore, here.”

The silence in the room is fucking deafening. As I look around at the men doing silent equations in their heads, balancing the math of the risk versus the reward, I’m still not satisfied.

“Stand up, Fiore,” I command, tugging on her leash. “Let them really get a look at you.”

Our eyes meet. For a second, I think that she’s about to spit at me. But she gets to her feet instead, blushing beet red. Her perfect tits and pert nipples are on display, as is the cleft of her pussy.

I grab a handful of her ass, carefully making eye contact with each one of the men. This is how you dominate men of standing and power; show them something that they can’t help but think about, time and time again.

Then I let go of Fiore’s ass and let the leash drop. “That’ll be all, Fiore. You can go.”

She doesn’t even bother looking at me. She just ducks her head in shame and quickly walks out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Sitting back in my chair, I put my arms up behind my head. “Fiore doesn’t know this yet, but I killed her father and her brothers too. I’m not afraid to get down and dirty when I feel like someone has slighted me. You’d all do well to remember that.”

I kick my feet up on the table, grinning. “Now who’s ready to talk about all the fucking money we’re going to make together?”

Watching the men’s faces, I can see the wariness there.

“How much money?” César asks. “It’s going to have to be a lot to get over my anxieties. You understand?”

“Lucas!” I shout to my assistant. “Get the packets for everyone!”

I steeple my fingers once more, but I am secretly elated. Everyone in the room was properly spooked, but no one got up and left. That bodes very well for me, very well indeed.