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)
Matty showed some sense by nodding.
“Keep it in mind,” Sal uttered, then moved past the man to enter the office. He didn’t need for someone to announce his presence. Everyone knew who he was, and exactly what he was there to do.
Sal’s connections to everything political and judicial, not to mention, the bottomless pit of wealth he came from made him a hot commodity to someone like Giorgio with very specific needs. And the money his first—dead—wife had been born into? Even older than his own. The boss couldn’t say his name was on a mall in Shanghai, China, but he could use the fact that his consigliere’s was connected to one.
Even though the enforcer didn’t announce Salvatore’s arrival to the office, Matty kept a three-stride distance behind him as he strolled beyond the threshold. The irritated, raw vibe of the room vibrated all around him the instant he was within its four walls. It almost made him turn around and leave, but that would only make Giorgio’s mood far worse for Sal to deal with later.
Speaking of which...
The deep lines set around the boss’s scowl as he scanned the Los Angeles Times spoke volumes. “A countdown, Sal. They have a fucking countdown to every step in the proceedings of this trial now.”
If he were a praying man, now would be the time. Alas, he wasn’t. Church just helped the image because God left him long ago.
“Told you,” Matty murmured at his back.
“Good day,” he greeted Giorgio instead of immediately engaging the issue at hand.
The boss didn’t even glance up from the newspaper spread out between his hands to grunt back, “What the fuck is so good about it?”
A snicker echoed from elsewhere in the space. While the other person standing near the windows might have been important enough for others to greet as well, Sal would worry about the boss’s eldest son later. He took patience, that one.
“Let me work myself into it,” Sal grumbled while glancing at his watch. “It’s only eight in the morning. A bit early to get the blood pressure up.”
“Stop dicking around and tell me what we’re doing about that!”
To make his point, Gorgio tossed the newspaper to the desk in full view of everyone. The front-page article felt like it had a bit of bite with its black, bold letters spelling out the Russo family name, alongside crime, and the capo who would soon be on trial for the murder of his second wife. A countdown to the next step in proceedings sat prominently in the lower right quadrant of the article with equally intense font to just top it off. If the entire situation wasn’t so fucking terrible in every single possible way, then it might be funny.
Sal knew better than to laugh. His lips didn’t even twitch with a smirk.
“Are you still standing there?” Giorgio barked at Matty.
The enforcer clicked his tongue and nodded in the direction of the man behind the oversized desk, gave the consigliere another pointed stare, and then promptly proceeded to exit the office and close the door.
One could guess the way the day would move forward for their boss simply by reading the room. Salvatore prided himself on the ability. He believed that alone saved his ass more times than he could count in situations where others had suffered severe consequences for mistakes he’d been smart enough to avoid despite also making the choice to join the family business.
Well, a choice implied reasoning. Choice didn’t factor into survival. It all became moves made by desperate people doing what had to be done and called a choice to soften the blow.
Unfortunately for some, that took years to truly unpack and understand but not him. Not Sal. He’d known it instantly.
“Can’t believe I gave that idiot the button,” said the boss, grumpily.
“You like something about him. He wouldn’t be standing at your office door otherwise,” Sal challenged.
Giorgio sneered back. “You know all about that, don’t you?”
Yes, he did. Very well, and so he let the silence stretch out between them instead of letting the bear poke him again. Better to keep the beast in its cage or distract it with something else.
Hoping the few moments of silence allowed the boss to resituate his mood, Sal decided to test the waters to see just how far the man behind the desk could be pushed. Given how well his return had come to pass so far, he didn’t have much hope for it getting better. “I did take a red-eye back from Los Angeles just to tell you first thing—”
“How the bastard has an entire countdown in the papers now?!”
Sal inhaled through his nose, keeping calm all the while. “No, although I’m sure it’ll be a hit for the press.”
“A hit, he says,” Gorgio replied, scoffing.
“They need to make money somehow.”