Giuseppi entered, walking in with a straight back and straight shoulders. Head up. His gaze sharp and a smile of greeting on his face for his capos. Valentino strode in behind him, tall, his frame muscular, looking fit, eyes scanning the room just as Dario’s had. Giuseppi went straight to the head of the table, nodding to those calling out greetings. Valentino took the seat to his left. Demetrio and Drago stepped out of the room and closed the double doors. Dario stood back against the wall, facing the capos, in between Giuseppi and Valentino.
Valentino knew the lighting in the conference room created shadows, and somewhere inside those shadows were guardians to help Dario should they be attacked. Bernado, Emilio and Enzo were watching each of the capos in the room, sweeping them for electronic equipment as well as hacking into their phones for personal information.
“As you can see, the rumors of my demise are premature,” Giuseppi said with a quick laugh. “My brother has declared war on us. He attacked me and my son and nephew at my family home and then again at the lake house.” He smiled the smile of a wolf and picked up the espresso that Val had poured for him from one of the small carafes the Ferraros’ select staff had set out in front of each chair. Taking a sip, he placed the cup precisely on the table and looked around. “He lost a small army, but no doubt he will try to regroup and come at us again. I believe it is a young man’s game to wage war such as this, and given the success he has achieved, I have decided it is time to turn the reins of the Saldi empire over to Valentino, my son.”
Giuseppi rose and turned to Val, who also stood. He took Val’s hand, where the ring sat heavy on his finger. “You will do the things our family needs for you to do.”
Valentino inclined his head. Giuseppi turned to the man at his right, the one who had been there since he’d been a boy. Giuseppi took the man’s face between his hands and kissed each cheek and then slowly turned and walked from the room without a backward glance.
There was a long, heavy silence. Valentino allowed the silence to stretch out after the double doors had swung shut with a thud. He surveyed the faces looking up at him from around the very large oval table. The Saldi territory was extremely large. He had deliberately, long before he took over, cultivated men he was certain he could count on. Those Dario had placed in strategic positions in case the ones they suspect of being traitors had already conspired to assassinate him.
Twice he saw Parisi glance toward one of the capos to his left, an older man by the name of Pius Banetti. He didn’t make the mistake of looking at the man, but he also had been a friend of Giuseppi for years. Bernado had flagged him as suspicious simply because unexplained money had begun to show up in his account two years earlier. Small sums that had begun to increase monthly. Crews made their own money, but it was always accounted for. That money was not explained, nor could Bernado find a source from any of the businesses Banetti and his soldiers ran or were responsible for.
“First, before we get onto anything else, I want you to know what I expect of you. It will be business as usual. There will be no slowing down. I will expect reports from each of you, and regular payments. Anyone already behind has one week to catch up or you will present yourself to me when called on. Hopefully, you will bring the missing cash at that time with an explanation.” He let the threat hang for a moment. He already had a vicious reputation. He didn’t need to lay details out for anyone.
“Know that my people have been paying attention to the books and scrutinizing each business. There have been too many shortfalls lately. My mother was ill, and my father wasn’t paying as much attention as he could have been. His friends, ones he took care of for years, took advantage. I see this and it angers me. Any who have cheated him during this time of his mourning, when they should have been supporting him, had better bring to me what is owed.”
He kept his tone soft. There was no need to raise his voice. His word was law. He had cultivated his reputation over the last few years, working at Giuseppi’s side, doing the dirty work, showing no mercy, his features blank, eyes dead. That reputation stood him in good stead now. The capos, old and young, exchanged nervous looks or stared into their espresso cups.
“The Saldi family does not sell children. We have made that very clear to everyone in our territories. We do not tolerate the selling of children in our streets. We don’t take them from their parents and sell them. Any who have profited from this business is a traitor to us and will be considered so. You will be hunted, dealt with, and so will your families. Every single one of you swore an oath to my father. To the Saldi name. To me. You knew the rules of our business and understood them clearly.”
A ripple of unease went through the room at the reminder of not only what the betrayer would suffer but also the families of the betrayer. Out of the corner of his eye, Valentino caught the blur of movement as Alceu Regio, a longtime capo with Giuseppi, went for his gun. He was seated to the left, where they had placed the capos they were the most suspicious of. These were the ones who had frequented Miceli’s strip bars. They had been friends with both Giuseppi and Miceli, and friends with Parisi. The men had either gone to school together or lived in the neighborhood growing up.
Dario had deliberately seated those capos in between the men he trusted the most. He had done so carefully, just as a precaution, an added insurance, if in the event that he couldn’t get to anyone making an attempt on Valentino’s life, or one of the Ferraros couldn’t, those capos they trusted could.
Before Regio could pull his weapon, he was dragged from his chair by the two capos seated on either side of him, two of the men Val and Dario had cultivated over the last two years and had recommended to Giuseppi to be brought into the family as young capos. They had Regio stripped of all weapons and his hands bound with zip ties. He was escorted to the far side of the room.
Valentino barely gave him a glance and continued speaking as if nothing had happened. “Miceli could not have carried out his attack without help. There are those within our family, men like Regio, who betrayed us.” He turned to look at Parisi. “A trusted brother.”
Custanzu Parisi widened his eyes in shock. “Valentino. What are you saying? Surely, you aren’t accusing me of betraying your famiglia? I have known you since you were a boy. I’ve known your father since he was a boy. I have been at his side for longer than you’ve been alive.”
“And you betrayed him. You led Miceli’s assassins right to him.” Val kept his voice low and even. He was surprised at the sudden surge of rage erupting in his belly and shooting through his body, the need to hurt this man like he’d hurt Giuseppi. “We found the evidence. The videos. The money. You betrayed him. You betrayed your family.”
For a long moment, Parisi stared at him, as if making up his mind whether to continue to deny the truth or just admit it. Finally, he sighed. “I told your father countless times it was a mistake to love a woman. He wouldn’t listen to me. One marries for many reasons, Valentino. You marry to gain territory. You marry to form alliances.”
“It is Don Saldi. Do not forget who you are speaking to.”
Parisi inclined his head and then looked around him at the lush conference room. “You chose wisely when you pursued the young Ferraro girl. She is impressionable. I told Giuseppi this. To make an alliance with her family is the ultimate coup. That is an acceptable goal with a woman. One marries to have children. But you don’t love, Val. Don’t make that mistake. If you take this oath to lead, you give your life in service and you can’t be divided the way Giuseppi was. I was his advisor, his underboss, but he refused to listen. He put Greta before our famiglia.”