Val hit him hard. First one cheek, then the other, snapping his head left then right, nearly breaking his neck. He did it casually, when he didn’t feel casual at all.
“My father always put the business first. Always. You wanted to sell children. He didn’t. That had nothing to do with him loving his wife. Some men can love their women; others merely are cheaters and have no integrity. Had my father been paying attention, he would have realized that if you could break your vows to the woman giving you children, you would break your vow to him, to our brotherhood.”
There was utter contempt in his voice because he felt utter contempt. He jerked his head toward Parisi, and the same two young capos, Luca Amato and Quintu Noto, who had taken control of Alceu Regio, pulled Custanzu Parisi none too gently from his chair and bound him as well.
“Pius Banetti, you have been frequenting my uncle’s strip clubs and accepting money from him in large amounts. Perhaps you would care to explain to all of us why Miceli has been paying you so much cash,” Val continued, leveling his gaze at the capo, who also had been a longtime friend of Giuseppi’s. To Valentino, these three men were the worst of the betrayers.
Banetti tried to bluster, beads of sweat visible on his forehead. “Val, you must have it wrong.” He looked behind him to see if either of the two capos who had put Parisi in restraints were close to him. When they weren’t, out of sheer desperation, he went for his gun.
The two capos on either side of him instantly were on him, one driving his wrist to the table, pinning it there, the other hitting him hard across his cheek with the barrel of a gun. Blood spurted, and Banetti slumped sideways. The two dragged him backward away from the table.
Romeo and Tore Vitale were also newer recruits Dario and Valentino had been instrumental in bringing in as made men and then up through the ranks to captain their own crews. Like Quintu Noto, Caj Lastra and Luca Amato, Valentino and Dario had kept the closer ties secret even from Giuseppi, other than to drop a word now and then to advance the five capos in the eyes of the Don.
“Gentlemen, if you would escort the prisoners to the interrogation room, the rest of us have a small amount of business to conduct,” Valentino said. He knew that would put the others at ease. There were two more capos suspected. He hoped they were just lax in their business, and not traitors. He would give them the chance to prove themselves one way or another.
Dario moved for the first time, walking ahead of the four capos with their prisoners to the double doors. When the doors opened there were two men waiting to lead the capos with their prisoners, Tomas and Cosimo Abatangelo, bodyguards for the Ferraro family and unknown to the majority of the Saldi capos. The doors swung closed again, and once more there was silence. Dario turned back to the room, his dark eyes sweeping over the rest of the men there, no expression on his face.
Valentino had deliberately allowed the others to catch a glimpse of the strangers leading his trusted younger capos to an unknown location. That would just enhance the mystery surrounding him. He had defeated Miceli’s army at the lake house and turned the police investigation back on Miceli. He didn’t appear to be at death’s door. He had ferreted out three of the worst traitors in the organization. He had use of a luxury hotel and knew his way around in it. He had seemingly made allies of a family long sought after by not only the Saldis but many of the other families throughout Chicago and other states, and in other countries. For Valentino to have pulled it off signaled a major feat.
Valentino knew Emmanuelle and her family were somewhere hidden in the shadows. They’d heard every word of Parisi’s speech. The worst of it was, in some ways it was the truth. It was a coup to have Emme tied to him and an alliance formed with the Ferraro family. Every one of her brothers would hear that and be upset on her behalf. Elie Archambault would be angry as well. And what of Emme? She was looking for reasons why they shouldn’t be together. She also had her doubts about Val’s sincerity when it came to why he’d tied her to him. He pushed all that out of his mind. He had to conduct business. Go forward.
“We are at war, gentlemen, but I expect business as usual. Your soldiers will carry on just as they normally would. They will learn to be on alert at all times and watch each other’s backs. As for Miceli and his attempt to kill my father and me, we will retaliate and take over his businesses. Everything. We will be raiding each of Miceli’s businesses and taking them down. Already, we’ve stripped his bank accounts, including his offshore ones. He’ll need his capos to pay him from those businesses, and we’re taking those away from him.”
Dario suddenly moved up behind one of the capos sitting on the left side. He had been a man they were on the fence about. Dario reached around him and took a cell phone from his hands and tossed it onto the table in front of Val. When the man tried to reach for a weapon, Dario stopped him, a knife to his throat. He leaned in close.
“I’ll be visiting your family, Arturo, you treacherous fuck. Kill them all? Kill everyone in the room? Does that mean you, too? Or are you wearing this red tie so they’ll know who you are?” Dario didn’t wait for an answer. He slit the man’s throat and then, as he let go, slammed the blade into the back of his skull.
Valentino reached for the cell. The message to Angelo Saldi, Miceli’s son, was clear, although even though Arturo had hit send, the message hadn’t gone out. It had been blocked by those keeping watch in the control room. Arturo’s body slowly slumped forward. The capo beside him shoved him down and onto the floor.
Val still faced over forty capos, most of whom his father had “made,” which meant he was still in quite a bit of danger. The territory was large, and they needed men for legitimate and illegitimate businesses. Most of the captains ran their own crews separately and rarely interacted with one another. Meetings such as this one, bringing them all together, were rare for a reason. One traitor knowing of such a meeting and giving the location could have a team of assassins suddenly showing up. If any of the others were in on the conspiracy to wipe out the rest of the Saldi men, they weren’t wearing red, or any distinguishing clothing that Val could see.
“Severu Catalano.” He beckoned the man to whom Dario and he had been the closest as they had grown up. Severu was a couple of years older than them, and had been in the organization longer, but he had proven his loyalty to both many times. He was calm, intelligent and not afraid to oppose Valentino’s point of view if he honestly thought he was wrong. He was good at strategy, at not missing details. Like Valentino, he had served in the military, and he was utterly cold and ruthless when need be.
Severu stood up slowly and walked around the table to come to Valentino’s side. He looked puzzled and had a shade of wariness in his brown eyes, but otherwise moved right up to face Val. He didn’t look to see where Dario was, nor did he have a hand near his weapons.
“It appears, Severu Catalano, that I am in need of an underboss. I didn’t have the time to discuss it with you ahead of time. The position is for life and carries tremendous responsibilities.” Valentino stared intently into Severu’s eyes. They’d known each other a long time. This was a dangerous role he was asking of his friend. The man, like Val, like Dario, would always have a target on his back.
Val detested putting Severu on the spot, but there was no one else. If he didn’t take the position, there was only Dario whom Valentino trusted to that extent, and he had plans for Dario. Dario wouldn’t like those plans and would fight him all the way on them, but would eventually see it was the only solution to the problem that would be cropping up hopefully very soon if all went the way Valentino planned.