“Since I don’t have a son,” the don continued, “the best way to ensure that Livy is protected, that my family continues on the right track is for the next boss to be her husband.”
“Sounds like a dangerous job. Whichever one of your lieutenants says I do, he will become a target for any of your other upstart underlings,” I said, shaking my head. “Olivia herself would probably be another issue they’d have to deal with. I doubt she’d be happy with that situation. You would need to find someone strong enough to keep control of the family.”
The don nodded. The corners of his lips turned up in the slightest of smiles. If he’d been testing me, it seemed I had passed. His hand only shook a little when he raised his glass for another sip.
“No, you’re right. None of my men, not even my consigliere could keep the peace and deal with my daughter at the same time.” The don’s smile grew but his eyes narrowed, watching my every move. “What about an outsider, someone not in the family?”
Now there was no denying that this question was a test. I leaned back in my chair and glanced toward my hands. The man wanted my analysis, not the first thing that came to my head. There’d be no penalty for giving the idea the thought it deserved.
“There’s still a risk of revolt,” I began, pausing for a beat to reconsider my words. “Your men won’t like having an outsider ordering them around. I’d almost think that someone from further away, maybe from the five families in New York or even the Chicago outfit would have less of a problem, but they’d also have less contacts in the area, less of an understanding of your business. I assume you want someone who can hit the ground running.”
“Of course,” the don nodded and his smile turned predatory. “What about a true outsider, someone not in any of the Mafia families?”
“A true outsider?” I repeated, chewing over the words. “That might be easier than someone from one of the other families, but I can’t see your men falling in line with the true outsider. Not at the start, at least. Those other families though, they might try and take a shot too. You would need a very strong hand at the tiller.”
The don offered another curt nod before picking his drink up again. That he approved of my answers showed both his intelligence and restraint. A lot of men in positions of power wanted everyone else to agree with them. They preferred affirming lies with honeyed words than stark truths. Not the don. He knew the only way to prepare for the future was to face it unvarnished.
“It’s a good thing I found just the man,” he said, raising his glass high between us before drinking from it.
“Who…” I started to ask before it hit me and my question ended in a gurgle.
My eyes fell to the drink in front of me but I didn’t reach for it. If there was ever a time I needed to be clearheaded, it was now. The realization made sense of his earlier statements. He said Olivia would come around once she realized how much I had matured.
“You’re the best choice, my boy,” the don said, filling the silence. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders and a reputation that will keep the men in line. Oh, it will be more out of fear than respect at the beginning, but once they realize how strong and savvy you are, they will all come around. I just know it.”
“I have led men before. They don’t worry me. Russians? Italians? It doesn’t matter.” I shook my head and my eyes fell to the drink again. “Olivia on the other hand… I don’t see her agreeing to anything like this.”
“Like you said, she’s a smart gi— woman,” the Don corrected himself again. “She might react poorly to the hard truth of the matter. We all do when we have to confront it. I think I’m the perfect example since my diagnosis. In the end, she will fight. I taught her how.”
His mouth closed and he looked off to the side. Shoulders relaxed and his face brightened, gazing off at nothing in particular. Almost as soon as he paused, his head shook and his face fell back to a flat expression. I didn’t acknowledge a thing when his eyes came back to me. A dying man was due his moments of reminiscing.
“I’m not going to tell you it is going to be easy, my boy.” The don snorted and leaned forward. “But I’m counting on you to keep my daughter safe when I’m not here to do it anymore. You’re the only person I know who can and would. I know your secret, Dimitri.”
That was a dangerous statement. The skeletons had a whole wing in my closet. In our line of business, information sold for a premium. There was nothing better than blackmail to grease a stuck wheel. I already owed the don a favor. He didn’t need to play hardball yet.
“You’re going to have to be more specific.” I kept my voice calm, played it casual. “You know as well as I do that men like me have more than a few. What secret have you uncovered?”
“Now, now, there’s no need to get defensive.” The don knocked on the table and held a hand up. “I’m not trying to give you the stick or anything. I just know you have a soft spot for women.”
“You want me to marry your daughter. That I like girls, women isn’t exactly a secret,” I replied, easing up on the control I’d kept before. I must have overcorrected for the don to call me out like that.
“People talk, my boy, people talk.” He shook his head and held his hands out. One moved to his head, finger tapping on his ear. “And me, I listen. Taught that to Olivia, too. You’ll see.Scientia est potentia. Information is power. That’s Latin, so you know it has to be right.”
“So the secret you have is how to bore me to death?” I sighed and sipped my drink again.
A pushback. Hopefully he’d move on but I didn’t hold my hopes up.
“When I hear something about you, I always listen a little closer.” The Don did not move on. “I have, ever since your dad… well, you know. A lot of guys like us, Dimitri… You and I, we aren’t angels. I have no illusions over that. But we aren’t devils either. I can’t say that about most of the guys like us. When you ran your family’s brothels, every customer knew not to hurt the girls. You wouldn’t have it, even if they paid for the damages. A move like that hurts the bottom line but it showed me that I could trust you with my Olivia.”
“Happy whores bring in more tips,” I argued.
Men like me and the don didn’t want our weaknesses out in public. We had enemies. The higher we rose, the more the bastards clawed at our feet. Giving even an ally like the don the ability to twist the screws in a way that might bring results was a bad move. When I’d turn him down later, he’d have more ammo against me, should he choose to pull the trigger.
“I’m not your priest, my boy. You don’t need to confess to me.” The don held up his hands. “I was just telling you why I know you’re the man for the job. So? Will you marry my daughter, steward my family until your son with her can take the reins?”
Hearing the words aloud, they hit me with their full effect. The keys to his kingdom and his daughter to boot. Of course, she hated me, and his kingdom was full of backstabbing criminals willing to shank me if I gave them a hint of a chance.
“My uncle won’t like that,” I finally replied.
