Chapter 8: The Price of Pride**
Kane lunged with terrifying speed, the blade arcing toward Leo’s neck.
Leo dodged instinctively, the blade grazing the fabric of his jacket. Growing up in the freight yards and boxing gyms of South Boston before inheriting the company had taught Leo how to survive when things got ugly.
Leo spun on his back heel, driving a fierce right cross into Kane’s jaw. The older man grunted, stumbling back, but recovered instantly, slashing wildly.
*Clang!*
Leo grabbed a discarded steel pipe from an empty pallet, blocking the knife strike. Sparks flew in the dim warehouse.
"You think giving raises to truck drivers makes you better than me?" Kane spat, lunging again, his knife clattering against the iron pipe. "They’re cattle, Leo! You use them to build your fortune, and you throw them away when they break!"
"They are the foundation!" Leo roared, deflecting Kane’s thrust and driving the butt of the pipe directly into the mercenary's sternum.
Kane gasped, doubling over. Leo didn't hesitate; he swept Kane’s legs out from under him. The knife clattered across the concrete, sliding into the dark water gap between the dock planks.
Leo pinned Kane to the floor, his forearm pressed firmly against the man's throat. Kane wheezed, blood flecking his lip, but a sinister grin spread across his face.
"Go ahead, kid," Kane choked out. "Kill me. Become just like the men you hate."
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Leo looked down at the man who had murdered his father. Every fiber of his being screamed to crush Kane's windpipe and finish the vengeance he had carried for a decade.
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