All Chapters of Leo Gambino A Thousand Foes: Chapter 101
- Chapter 110
128 chapters
101 The Protector
Leonard stood in place without moving a single inch. His posture remained relaxed, shoulders loose, as if the dozens of gun barrels pointed at him were nothing more than harmless props in a school play. The calm in his eyes never wavered.Peter Norfolk, looking and sounding completely maniacal, paced a few steps forward, his features twisted with wild glee."Look at him!" he crowed, voice cracking with triumph. "The great hero finally resigned to his fate. He knows he's finished and there's no escape!""Look, Sophia! Your beloved Leonard has given up his life already! Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic!"Peter raised his hand like a conductor signaling the finale. "Fire!"Bullets ripped across the hall in a deafening storm. The sharp cracks blended into one continuous roar that shook the chandeliers overhead.Cries and yelps tore through the air as people dropped to the floor or scrambled behind chairs.The sound of bodies hitting the marble echoed alongside Peter's wild, hysterical laught
102 The Broken Heir
In the Langford mansion, Victor was holed up in his bedroom, not eating and not even going to the office. The heavy curtains remained drawn against the afternoon light, turning the once-glamorous space into a dim cave of stale air and silence.Empty plates of food sat untouched on the nightstand. He lay sprawled across the unmade bed in the same soiled shirt he had worn for two days, staring at the ceiling as if it might offer him answers. Victor was broken.Felicity pushed the door open gently, her heels clicking softly. She carried a tray with fresh coffee and a plate of his favorite pastries.Her voice was warm and coaxing as she stepped inside. "My love, you can't keep shutting yourself away like this. Come on, I brought you something to eat."Victor didn't even turn his head. "Fuck off, Felicity."She clenched her jaw at his words. Sighing, she set the tray down on the dresser and moved closer, perching on the edge of the bed."Baby, please. I know things have been rough, but we'
103 Bloodstone
In the suburban east of Nexus City, an annual minerals expo sprawled across a full square mile of open grounds and temporary pavilions.Colorful banners flapped in the mild breeze while rows of stalls stretched as far as the eye could see. Each one was packed with crates of raw gems, polished crystals, and mysterious artifacts.Top mineral traders shouted their wares alongside precious stone merchants, astrologers offering star charts, psychics promising glimpses of fate, and fortune tellers shuffling tarot decks."Finest Siberian amethysts right here! Ward off negative energy and bring clarity to your decisions!" a stout man in a velvet vest bellowed, holding up a fist-sized purple stone that caught the sunlight."Rare moonstones from the Himalayas! Perfect for dream work and emotional healing—only two hundred each!" another vendor called out.A buxom woman in flowing scarves leaned over her table of runes. "Tarot and palm readings! Discover what the stars have planned for your love
104 The Rejected Stone
Leonard raised an eyebrow, his gaze steady on the rough marble resting between them on the counter. "Don't you think five hundred thousand dollars is a bit much for this marble?" he asked.500 grand was spare change for the Gambino heir, but the merchant was obviously trying to scam him.Betelgeuse was momentarily taken aback. His practiced smile froze for half a second while his mind raced.Is this young man an expert? Could he actually expose my scam right here in front of all these customers?But then the merchant recovered, reminding himself that young people often acted smart defensively just to haggle. He leaned forward, adopting the warm, grandfatherly tone he reserved for the biggest marks."Ah, my young friend, you wound me," Betelgeuse began, placing a hand dramatically over his heart. "This is no ordinary marble. My grandfather, God rest his soul, heroically procured it himself during one of his final expeditions to Greece back in the thirties.""He risked his life sneaking
105 Billion Dollar Treasure
Betelgeuse's face had gone completely pale, his greedy smile replaced by open-mouthed shock as he stared at the priceless glowing red stone. The merchant's thick fingers twitched at his sides.'How the hell did a rejected marble I used as a damn coaster turn into this?' he thought, panic rising hot in his throat. 'Who knew there was a billion-dollar treasure inside it?''This can't be happening to me. How did I sell such a priceless item at $500,000?'Leonard simply stood there, calm as ever, arms loose at his sides, while Aquila's eyes shone with quiet pride beside him.'I was useful,' she thought, the warmth spreading through her chest like sunlight after rain. 'Master believed me. I didn't disappoint him.'The word of the Stone of Babylon, revealing itself, spread faster than any auction bid.Within minutes, a group of distinguished-looking men and women arrived. They looked like seasoned traders in tailored suits and silk scarves. They pushed through the growing crowd and approach
106 Reduced to Ash
Leonard sighed in pity. He looked at the oversized merchant, trembling with fury, behind the counter, the glowing red stone sitting between them like evidence at a crime scene.Betelgeuse could have walked away happy with his clean five-hundred-thousand-dollar scam on a worthless block of marble. Instead, the man had reached for something that never belonged to him and, worse, had dared to threaten the woman standing at Leonard's side.One thing Leonard could never forgive was an attack on his ward's dignity.This is how it always ends for men like Betelgeuse, Leonard thought, the reflection quiet and detached. Their own greed writes the final line. They push too far, and the world they built on lies and deceit collapses under its own weight.Betelgeuse's men rushed forward without waiting for another word. Some swung barbed metal baseball bats, others drew short swords with rusted edges, and a few spun nunchaku with menace.They fanned out in a loose circle, their boots scraping acro
107 The Interview
The Stone of Babylon needed polishing and purification before it could be used for locating the Holy Grail.Leonard handed the glowing red relic to Aquila outside the expo gates. "Take it to the Eclipse Consortium labs yourself," he told her. "I'll join you soon."Aquila nodded, cradling the stone like it was fragile glass. Her cheeks still carried the faint blush from the earlier chaos. "I won't let you down, Master. Thank you for trusting me with this. It means more than you know."Leonard gave her a small nod. "You earned it. Go."Aquila climbed into the Eclipse Consortium car, the door closing with a quiet thud.As it pulled away, Leonard's phone vibrated in his pocket. He glanced at the screen. Sophia Harrington. He answered on the second ring."Hello.""Leonard?" Sophia's voice came through sharp and a little breathless. "What are you doing? Why haven't you been answering my calls and messages?"She went on without waiting for an answer."You disappeared right after the land auc
108 The Challenge
Elias and his followers erupted into tumultuous laughter the moment Orlando pointed at Leonard and Jamie and asked them to get out."Rejected without even sitting down!" Elias crowed, slapping his knee as if it was the funniest thing he had heard all week."Look at that. The construction worker got shown the door before he could even open his mouth!""Go back to your loser lives, both of you. This isn't a charity for hard hats and dreamers."The female candidates sitting with Elias giggled right along with him, one of them covering her mouth dramatically."Seriously, some people have zero self-awareness," she said, loud enough for the whole room to hear. "Showing up here like that after we told them off in the corridor. So pathetic."Even some members of the panel sniggered behind their notepads. A middle-aged woman in a crisp blazer shook her head. "This is a waste of everyone's time."Jamie's shoulders slumped. He clutched his résumé tighter, his knuckles white. "Let's just leave,"
109 The Genius
All in the panel, including Harriet, thought it would be over soon, ending with Leonard being humiliated.The young man's last answer had probably been a fluke. He must have overheard some analyst talking in the corridor or caught a summary online. No one believed a construction worker could answer the expert panel's advanced questions.Orlando Davenport leaned forward, a fresh smirk sprouting on his fat lips. "Let's see how long your luck lasts."He nodded to the three experts at the far end of the table as if letting the guillotine fall. "Begin."The first expert, Ronald Hegseth, a lean man with wire-rimmed glasses, cleared his throat."A joint venture partner of Harrington suddenly demands fifty-one percent control after the Graalis deal closes. How do you stop them without killing the partnership?"Actually, Leonard answered Orlando's question based on his general knowledge. Now, he needed to humble these scholars in their own game by tapping into his Gambino gifts.The young man
110 Power Abuse
The security guards poured into the interview room in a coordinated manner. Six of them entered first, followed by two more pushing through the doorway behind them.Orlando Davenport had planned this exact moment in advance. He always kept a small team of loyal guards waiting just outside during every elite interview session, ready in case things went south.It was his favorite way of reminding candidates from humble backgrounds exactly where they belonged in the world. A quick show of force, a little public humiliation, and his ego stayed nicely inflated. At the same time, the rest of the company's real efficiency slowly rotted away under his leadership.Jamie's face lost all color in an instant. He started shaking like a leaf, his hands trembling as he clutched his résumé like a shield. His eyes darted frantically between the advancing guards and Leonard.'This is it,' he thought, his stomach twisting into painful knots. 'They're going to drag us out, beat us down in the corridor, a