"Seven priests went without justice, but how many children?" Valentini shook his head. "I would ordinarily deal with this kind of thing myself, however I know how you O’Donnellys work."
"A favor for a favor," Aidan ground out.
"Exactly." Valentini smiled, warmer this time. Satisfaction lacing it. "If it makes it any better, he’s also a Sparrow."
Aidan straightened up. For that matter, so did I.
"He is?" I demanded.
Valentini cast me a curious glance. Not dismissive like I might have expected, just inquisitive. "He is." He tipped his head to the side. "You were doing the Lord’s work from an early age, Aidan. Culling the perverted from the flock. Apparently, the Archbishop was well aware of what you did with Father McKenna. They were words spilled during confession."
As his words waned, Aidan rasped, "Who?"
Valentini pulled a face. "This is compounding the favor."
Aidan’s mouth firmed. "I’ve already told you that I’ll do what I can with Da. He’s a loose cannon. There’s no controlling him."
"But this is one way I can earn his gratitude. I understand that the Irish and the Italians haven’t been friends for a long time, since before he was even in the Mob, however our grandparents were not like this. The Valentinis ruled with honor. The Fieris—" He spat on the ground. "—were devious fuckers. We are not like this."
"Da won’t listen to reason." Aidan growled. "But if he isn’t open to the suggestion of us backing you, then you can rest assured that I’ll at least arrange a meeting between you where you can argue your position."
"That is all I need to make him see sense." Valentini’s eyes lit up. "A man of honor would not make such a statement lightly."
Aidan scowled at him as he snarled, "I’m aware of this. Now, tell me—who?"
"Your Uncle Padraig."
Twenty-Seven
Aidan
There was one consolation to this situation—the property’s security hadn’t been breached.
Valentini’s van and his men’s vehicles were all outside the gates, lined down the road, something I saw when, after calling Conor and getting him to stand the guards down, I accessed the cameras on the border walls through the app Kid had built for us.
I even watched the footage of Valentini sneaking through the gates. He’d flashed a light onto the sensor which made the gates retract. Normally, I had a guard standing there so that was a loophole that wouldn’t reoccur but still… I was pissed.
Not just at Valentini’s break-in, but at his news, and at Savannah’s disobedience.
Relieved that she was inside the Range Rover now that I'd shoved her difficult ass in there—a vehicle that could double up as an armored tank—I cast Valentini a glance and said, "If you tell anyone, anyone about what you know, Da is the last person you’ll have to fear."
Luciu turned to me. "I know what it is to protect family, Aidan. Conor should never have gone through that. If anything, you have my sympathies." His glance turned curious. "Is it true you are allied with the Satan’s Sinners’ MC? The one operating in Jersey?"
"Why?"
"I heard about that pedophile hunter." He rubbed his chin. "I might have some work for him."
"I don’t deal with them. My brother, Declan, does. If Father accepts you as an ally, I’ll get you an in."
Valentini straightened his shoulders. "What’s the likelihood of that happening? We can cut the bullshit now it’s just us talking."
My jaw clicked as I worked it. "Before this, I’d have said you didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell."
"So I was right to make this move." He laughed softly. "Interesting. This is good to know. Now the Italians and the Russians are dealing with turmoil, the Irish are the strongest influence in Manhattan.
"We all know the Triads aren’t that interested in our petty squabbles. They’re more concerned about the Yakuza. It would be in my best interest to remain friendly with your father. If he likes gifts, I can give him plenty of those."
"Little interests him."
"I’m not an ass kisser, but my family has been waiting sixty years to reascend to its rightful place. I will do whatever I must to make that happen. I’ve already got the Famiglia under my thumb, but acceptance as its leader comes in different ways."
"I’m surprised. I thought one of the Genovicos would have taken the top spot."
Valentini smirked. "There are very few made men remaining in the top hierarchy. Our churches are busy with many funerals right now."
"Leading by fear." I grunted.
"A sad but true fact of life. Of course, in twenty years, I’ll have to deal with pissed off sons. Much as they’re dealing with me now, but I’m unafraid of borrowing trouble."
"Lead by example, then. Don’t trigger resentment."
"Once I’m in power, once my place is consolidated with a brokerage of peace from the Irish and the Russians, this I can do. As it stands, I still have to play the politician, and I’ll carry on doing that until my position is secured." His jaw tightened. "They’ll never be able to disband the Valentinis ever again."
Disinterested in his power grab, I cast Savannah a look and found her peering down at her cellphone in the Range Rover.
A nerve ticced at my temple when I thought about her disobedience from before, a disobedience that could have gotten her hurt, and I knew I’d be late getting to the family estate.
If neither of us were okay with my family hearing her moan, then being okay with hearing us fuck nasty was another matter entirely.
"Can I borrow the van?" I asked when it pulled up. Innocuous, like any of the million other white vans that roamed New York City, it would blend in easily with traffic.
"Of course. I’ll be trashing it after anyway. Can you deal with this?"
I arched a brow at him. "You trust me to do that?"
Valentini smirked. "We’re going to be allies, my friend. We’re going to own the city again.
"Your father won’t live forever, so it will be you who sits at the Summit the next time we convene. The old generation fucked up NYC, but now there’s young blood waiting to take over it, we can start anew."
Smirking at him, I said, "If you want Da to like you, don’t say shit like that."
Valentini smirked back. "I know my audience."
"Which prompts me to ask why the fuck should I trust you?"
"Because I don’t want war with you. You hate the Fieris as much as me, which means you're the enemy of my enemy, Aidan. Plus I have no beef against the Irish. The Valentinis and the O'Donnellys always played nicely together...
"I just want to take back what’s rightfully mine." He turned to me with his hand outstretched. "I truly hope you make the asswipe pay for covering up what he did. Knowing your reputation, I’m sure you’ll do all those children proud."
My hand snapped out to grab his and we shook on it, gaze held firm as we both took each other’s measure. I knew it was a little like a pissing contest, but after a few minutes, we both reached a semblance of peace, and we pulled free at the same time.