“Why would I ever want to work for you?” Cold snorted. “You’re absolutely pathetic. You won’t even demand retribution for the deaths of your own men? Your own family? Is that because you’re really so kind or is it because you know you’ve already lost and you’re hoping to call me to heel with this blatant fuckery?”
“Fine,” Cristian barked. “If that’s how you want to fuckin’ be, I’ll gladly take the blood owed to me. Starting withhim.”
He pointed right at Mickey.
Mickey blew him a kiss.
“Behave, Mr. Tamerlane,” Cold warned.
“My apologies, Boss.”
“Now, Cristian, I have a counteroffer for you,” Cold drawled. “I take the city, and you take your men and what’s left of your pitiful family, and you all leave immediately. I’m going to need your contacts on the city council and the banks, and oh, because I’m feeling so generous, I won’t just kill you where you stand.”
“You’re serious?”
“It’s either this or rotting in jail for the rest of your life.”
Cristian laughed again. He clearly did not take Cold’s threat seriously. “Jail? Wow. And on what charges?”
“Oh, haven’t you figured it out yet?” Cold smiled. “If you don’t leave the city, you’re going to be arrested as an accessory to the murder of your father, Don Rafaello Luchesi.”
Cristian suddenly paled. “What?”
“You paid your own brother to kill your father.” Cold smirked. “Last time I checked, that’s illegal.”
Chapter 24
“Excuse me?” Cristian spat. “I did no such thing!”
“Well, of course you didn’t do it personally,” Cold scolded. “Mr. Corman here made the deposit on your direct orders.”
“That’s insane—”
“Is it any more insane than Tony Luchesi stealing money from Luigi’s bar to help fund you?” Cold smirked.
“Tony?” Cristian looked confused. “What are you talking about? What the hell does he have to do with this?”
“Everything. Tony was the first piece, a small steppingstone in a much grander scheme. I imagine you and your brothers had been planning for your father’s demise for quite some time, and you got tired of waiting for him to expire of natural causes. Of the three of you, Matteo was the only one with the balls to take the old man out himself, but he didn’t want to risk getting his hands dirty… at least not without being properly compensated.”
“Bullshit!” Cristian snarled.
“But his price, wow, steep,” Cold went on undeterred. “One million dollars. For one million dollars, he would kill your father, and then you and your brothers would divide up the city amongst yourselves. You’ve been making small deposits to pay him off, but you were nowhere close to that magical million dollar number—”
“I don’t know anything about any fucking deposits!”
“You should pay more attention to your bank accounts,” Cold taunted. “A simple glance at your statement would show a check for a hundred thousand dollars from your account being deposited into Matteo’s account at Strassen Springs First National for the last six months. But that wasn’t enough, was it? And Matteo didn’t want to wait any longer. So, he killed the Don.
“You couldn’t believe he’d actually done it, and now you had to pay up. It’s why you sent your men to Ragazzi’s to rob the place blind. You had to pay your brother what he was owed. But Matteo suddenly wanted more money, didn’t he? And he didn’t want to share the kingdom with you or Luigi. He knew he was the favored heir and would likely have the support of the entire family if he cut you two out entirely.
“It’s why you told the police about the drugs, to weaken Matteo’s hold and to turn him and Luigi against one another. It’s why you ordered Mickey to kill Delgado Ricci, because he was such an outspoken supporter of Matteo. You let Luigi take the blame for that too. It’s why you called this meeting to kill me, because I figured out your little scheme and could testify against you when you’re arrested, and you can’t have any loose ends.”
“Wow,” Cristian scoffed. He couldn’t help but look impressed. “That is quite some story you’ve put together, Cold.”
“I’m already very sure that Detective Carville will be a huge fan of it,” Cold said. “As will Judge Olden and our new district attorney, Robert York. They will eat up every last syllable like a beautiful banquet.”
“What possible fuckin’ evidence do you have?”
“Your bank statements for one. The murder weapon also seems to have Matteo’s fingerprints all over it. I’m sure he’d agree to testify against you for a reduced sentence since you’re the true mastermind behind all of this.”
