From within his black briefcase, Frankie produced a brown manila envelope. “Here it is.” Opening it, he laid it flat out on the arm of Bruno’s chair. “See...The four hundred room luxury hotel…yours. The casino...yours. The restaurants...yours. The golf course and spa ...yours.”
Taking the sheet from inside the envelope, Bruno stared at it silently for several minutes before he said a word. The contract was professional, watertight, too fucking good to be true. “Frankly, I’m a more than a little suspicious. First, I gotta believe Castillo owns this place. And second, you expect me to believe he’s giving it to me for nothing. Just like that.” Bruno shook his head, tossing the contract into the accountants’ lap. “Even if I were born with half a brain, I wouldn’t believe that.”
Frankie grinned. “Castillo said you’d react this way. He’s allowed a phone call from the prison this evening. You can talk to him then. But believe me, Bruno, as a man who’s been by Vincent Castillo’s side for as long as you’ve been alive, when he says he’s gonna do something, he does it. When the two of you talk, he’ll only confirm everything I’ve just told you.”
“So Castillo’s had this planned and I wasn’t told about this?” Bruno said, raising the end of his sentence to a question.
“It’s nothing personal, Bruno. You probably know as well as I do Castillo doesn’t like to put all of his cards on the table so to speak. Not to his friends, the tax man, his enemies, nobody.” Frankie sighed, and his eyes fell to the ground. “The boss always wanted this place for Bobby as his successor.”
Bruno scowled. “So why me? Why not Francesco? As underboss, the job should go to him,” he interrupted.
“But now, with no children left to carry his reign,” Frankie continued, “Castillo had to take a real hard look at who he could really trust.” His eyes shot up to lock Bruno’s gaze. “On the surface, everybody in his crew isloyal.But when shit hit the fan, the only man who fought for him was you, Bruno. He was pissed when he heard what you did, but you risked everything, your job, your life, your membership in that life, to save your boss. That’s something special.”
The big man shrugged. “I do what I gotta do.”
“Castillo also told me there’s no other man alive he’d rather have as his successor,” Frankie finished.
Bruno felt his eyes pop.Successor? No fucking way. Shit like this doesn’t happen to a man like me.
Frankie smiled. “It’s the truth. Castillo said he had noted many characteristics in you that he himself had. You were always a candidate for boss in his eyes. And the more he thought about the idea the more he liked it.”
Bruno rose to his feet then glanced around the extravagant room. It was like seeing everything with a fresh set of eyes. Now, he saw it for what it was: a source of the mobs’ money, and power. “This is insane!” he exclaimed, in an out-of-character expressive voice that was one part confusion two-part excitement.
Frankie laughed, standing up. “You’ve hit the real jackpot Mr. De Luca. This is one of the largest Casinos in California. And the most profitable on the West Coast, that’s for sure.”
Fixing his beaming face to his stoic persona, Bruno spun around to face the man. “Is there going to be anything else?” he asked, voice stern.
Frankie’s smile dropped and he shook his head. “No. No.”
Bruno scowled as he eyed the man up and down. “You’ve said your piece, now get the fuck out of my room!”
Frankie stuffed the papers into his briefcase and closed it. “I’ll meet with you Friday to sign the paperwork.”
Bruno gave a singular nod and gestured towards the door. He followed the man on his way out.
Opening the door, Frankie paused and tossed his eyes over his shoulder. “Oh, and you might want to check out your new office. That’s really something to see...It’s on the top floor.”
Bruno narrowed his eyes at the man.
Shaking his hand, Frankie disappeared out the door.
When the door slammed closed, Bruno went back into the study. Dropping into his seat, he punched in Marco’s number on the phone and waited...
“Bruno! What’s up?”
Bruno gave that slow, dark grin of his. “You’re not gonna believe this.”
Chapter Fifteen
A knife in his boot and a pistol under the table.
Bruno sat back in the office chair laced his fingers together and waited for Castillo’s call.
The office was a large rambling room with alcoves and built-in bookcases, with books lined up perfectly, and filing cabinets. It was dominated by an enormous, hulking oak table which the boss used as his desk. The high-backed leather chair was on wheels so that he could spin around the room. Bruno looked down at his new desk to see it was empty except for an ashtray, a telephone, his boss’ appointment book, a marble pen holder and a pen.
He leaned back and adjusted the seat, getting used to his new role. Then, he swiveled around to look at Marco who was now sitting in the office behind him. Glass sliding doors separated Bruno’s office from his cousin Marco’s.
At 7 pm sharp, the phone rang.
