Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 154525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Quite an offer for the rest of them, Nico thought.
Agree, or die. But that’s how it worked. This was their life. The better man made the move; the rest would follow.
With a solemn nod, Christiano stood from his seat and grabbed the marble from the plate ahead of him. He leaned across the table and dropped the marble loudly into the middle centerpiece.
“Let me know when you’re ready,” Salvatore told him. “I’ll make the plan happen.”
“I will.”
“Exit my property promptly.”
The man didn’t need to be told again. Christiano’s footsteps could be heard until they diminished completely outside the study. Nobody spoke at the table. Only then did Salvatore gesture with a waving hand at the others, as if to urge the rest who he’d already told to vote, to now make their choice.
Johnny, the boss’s cousin, stood first.
“Well done, your father would’ve liked that,” Johnny told Salvatore as his marble dropped.
“I didn’t do this for him.”
“All the same, Sal. I’ll be seeing you.”
“I look forward to it, cousin,” Salvatore replied.
The factions from Maine and Vegas made their move, dropping marbles into place one after another, and then heading out without a word.
Nico couldn’t help but notice the way Salvatore continued staring down Carmine at the other end of the table as Big Mike finally stood to place his marble into the centerpiece.
“A pleasure doing business with you recently,” Big Mike told Salvatore.
“Same. It certainly worked to our favor, didn’t it?”
“Never been a problem between us in sight.”
“How’s the wife?”
“Due any day.”
Salvatore smiled. “A girl, right?”
“Mmhmm. All these girls, and one boy. God’s not fair to me, boss.”
“Well, they’re all healthy. Seems fair enough to me, Mike. I’ll be seeing you.”
“Sure thing,” Big Mike replied.
Then, to Nico, the capo nodded. Nico did the same back.
After the New Jersey capo cleared the room, that just left the two at the end. Nico cleared his throat, eyeing Salvatore from the side whose gaze focused on the hands he folded in his lap. Like he needed to hide his fingers from himself lest he lift them to be visible at the window.
“Thank you for listening even when I didn’t explicitly tell you to remain seated,” Salvatore said then.
“Did you need to?” Carmine asked.
Salvatore laughed under his breath. “Ah, Carmine...I’d like to make this as painless as possible, but that’s just not going to happen. And you know why.”
“Chicago’s making us a lot of money,” Nico said to Salvatore then.
“I know. And you, and Big Mike. However, that’ll be your responsibility to correct once this is said and done. You’re the underboss, Nico. If I deem a faction unworthy to continue business with, then you will handle the ramifications of said choice. If that means you do the talking and explaining for me, and handle the brunt of the frustration, so be it. You can make new deals. With people I don’t want to kill daily.”
He blinked at that comment. It wasn’t like Sal.
“So, what does that mean?” Davido asked behind Carmine. “You’re cutting us off? This family started in Chicago.”
“Don’t you care why I’m doing that?”
Carmine patted Davido’s hand on his shoulder. “Stop.”
“Tell him why, Carmine.”
The capo’s jaw tensed, muscles twitching. “I’m not sure it matters at this point.”
“So, he doesn’t know.”
“He knows the big picture.”
“Details are important, too,” Salvatore replied, tone chilled.
“I don’t agree.”
“Remember, you asked for this, Carmine.”
“I—”
“You fucked my wife,” the boss said.
Every word came out louder than the last. Nico felt his whole body go numb as he looked down the table to Carmine. The hand on the man’s shoulder drifted away, back to Davido’s side, although it trembled on the way.
“She came to me,” Carmine replied. “They all come to me. For various reasons; by various means; with various needs. She came to me for help.”
“You really think you did something, don’t you?” Salvatore asked. “And you know, that’s what kills me about it, Carmine. You were the only one she sought out, purposely. The others, she found in bars or fucked high. You weren’t the same—you offered something. You had something she thought she needed. She thought you were going to be able to do something for her, so every step she took to go to you, thinking it would heal that broken part in her was a choice she made. None of the others hurt me like that one.”
“Why, because it was me or because—”
“The only reason I let you live,” Salvatore interjected before the man could dig his hole even deeper, “was because you didn’t know it was her until after.”
A loud swallow came from Carmine. Behind him, Davido stared down at his partner.
Nico had missed something here. He knew the crew from Chicago, and specifically, Carmine and his life partner, had made their money in drugs, sex, and the lifestyle of it all. If a person had a fetish, preference, or need, one of those two men could supply it.