Rose

The blood ink was barely dry on the streets when Don Marquez caught a rival’s bullet, leaving a gaping void in the family and thrusting his fiercely independent daughter, Rose, onto a brutal throne she never wanted. While she would have preferred a life far away from the mob's violence, necessity forced her hand to protect her father's legacy and prevent their empire from fracturing entirely. Stepping into the dimly lit back room of the social club, she traded grief for cold resolve, knowing the vultures were circling their territory. As her father’s former number one made man, I watched her lock eyes with me over a glass of rye, her tone dropping into absolute authority.