“Too many people,” he said. “Too many eyes.”
“This place reminds me of a cemetery.” Big Bismo made a noise that sounded like it went with a shiver. “Don’t fucking like it. Especially at night.”
“You have a map?”
“Nah,” Big Bismo said. “No one ever really comes out here but Burt. He directs the guys who take care of it. They take it in sections, ya know? Because it’s a clusterfuck. I told New York they needed to demolish it and put up a casino or some shit. Candle didn’t want it. They listened.”
“Who gives a fuck what Assanti wants.”
The entire time they were talking, Aniello and I stared at each other. He still had his hand over my mouth, but it wasn’t bothering me. I couldn’t fit my entire hand around his wrist, but I wrapped my fingers around his bones, holding on.
“New York. For now.” A second or two later. “I’m going to call Burt. I have no fucking clue where we are. I know how to get to the sad-looking girl in that garden we were in, and that’s as far as I go.”
“Don’t bother,” Ben said. “If she could find her way out, I can. But here’s the deal. I don’t give a fuck if she wants this or not. I want it. It’s going to happen. Things need to move,capisci?”
Aniello flinched at the way Ben saidcapisci.He totally mangled thepronunciation.
“New York already approved it,” Big Bismo said. “It’s going to happen.”
“Assanti?”
“Candle won’t be a problem.”
“He better not fucking be. Or the deal is off. This entire place will be shut down before you can finish your overpriced steak.”
“Hey,” Big Bismo said, his tone changing. He sounded insulted. “We have a fine establishment here. You get what you pay for,capisci?”Big Bismo seemed to say the word correctly on purpose to correct him. “Besides, this wouldn’t be an issue if your brother hadn’t fucked up the last deal. Your side took a hit. So did we.”
Ben laughed. It was mirthless. “My brother is dead. You lost an overpriced whore. Just like the steak and whiskey at yourfineestablishment.”
This time I flinched. I wasn’t a whore.
“Your brother murdered one of our girls to have another. You call it as you see it. We call it as we see it.”
Richard Dalton murdered a girl here? To have me? I opened my eyes wide, hoping to get Aniello to confirm or deny, but he didn’t move. Didn’t even blink.
Things got quiet for a minute before Ben spoke up again. “Have her ready soon. It’s happening by August. My mother is already planning the wedding. And this time, we’re not stopping here to prove anything to anyone. I don’t know who made that fucking call, but it cost Richie his life.”
I thought I heard Big Bismo mutter something like, “Picking the wrong girl cost the asshole his life.”
After another minute or two, things became quiet, so I went to move out of Aniello’s hold, but his grip became even stronger. He shook his head and then loosened his hold when I didn’t move.
“Boss, it’s me, Big Bismo.” It sounded like he had taken a seat right outside of the fence somewhere. “Yeah, he was just here.” Pause. “Not happy. He wants it done soon.” A few seconds. “He’s worried about Candle.” A few more seconds. “No, I’m outside in that fucking garden. Lost. I’m going to call Burt after we hang up. Yeah. Yeah. He has to be relocated. He’s going to cause trouble again. I can feel it. And I don’t want to be around when it happens. Had a close call this morning with a fork.”
For the first time, the statue staring down at me cracked. He grinned.
“He’s a loose cannon and better than anyone out there. That’s a recipe for fucking trouble. When he’s better than you or me, or anyone, what do you do? This deal is too important to fuck up again. They’re going to shut us down. We can’t have that.” Long pause. “Yeah. Yeah. It’s gotta be soon. Gotta snuff the candle out or it’ll start a fire.”
My eyes widened again. Aniello shook his head.Keep quiet.
“Yeah. Yeah. All right. I’ll pacify him as long as I can. Once the girl goes, we’re in good standing. I’m in the process of changing her name and everything. They want a different background. A different name for her.” He laughed. “Yeah, he made some wisecrack about our establishment being overpriced. I guess she ain’t good enough as is either.” He laughed again, this time so hard he started to wheeze.
Then he hung up, coughing a little and muttering to himself about overpriced steaks and whiskey before I heard him describe where he was to Burt.
* * *
Fifteen minutes or so later,after Burt had come and claimed Big Bismo, when I stepped out of Aniello’s hold, he allowed me to.
“They’re going to kill you,” I whispered.
