“Enjoy your afternoon,” I say. “It was nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure was all mine” he says, before wrapping his arm around his wife. “I hope to see you again soon.”
I wave them off, scurrying to grab my phone from my purse when it starts ringing. I head back into the restaurant as I answer the call.
“Rena, are you okay?” Alesso asks, and a layer of stress peels off my shoulders when I hear his familiar voice.
“I’m okay.”
“Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”
Alesso came to the city with us today, and I’m grateful he’s close by. I confirm my location and hang up, taking a seat at the counter as I wait for him to arrive.
24
ALESSO
“How did you lose him?” Ben asks Fabrizio, a couple of hours later as we are preparing to leave his office at the Caltimore Holdings building. Rena insisted on returning to campus and attending her class, so I went with her to keep her protected until Fabrizio showed up, sweating and red in the face after chasing the perp all over Greenwich Village.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was a setup,” he says. “Like he had planned his route and set up obstacles in advance so, every time I came close to catching him, someone or something thwarted my plans.”
“Please tell me you got the plates on the Jeep,” Leo says, sauntering into the room, the gold band on his ring finger glimmering under the bright office lights.
“I did.” Fabrizio cuts him a scathing look for daring to suggest he’s incompetent.
“He sent the license number to me earlier, and I have already had Phillip run it. The plates are fake,” Ben explains, shutting down his computer. “No surprises there.”
“This guy doesn’t operate like a petty criminal.” I state the obvious. “Who the fuck is he, and what does he want with Rena?”
No one replies because we are no closer to having answers than we were back in April. To say I’m pissed this guy has reappeared on the scene is an understatement.
“I’m assigning Edoardo to Serena’s detail too. At least until we catch this motherfucker.”
I wish I could be reassigned to her detail, but Ben needs me to help him plan for the forthcoming meeting in Chicago, and he wants me guarding his wife whenever I’m not working on that. The meeting is a big deal. It’s the largest gathering of Italian Americanmafiosoin history, and every don and his heir will be in attendance. Gino thinks he is being crowned as The Outfit’s new don at the ceremony, but he’s in for a rude awakening. Ben plans to out Accardi and Greco as traitors with the full support of DiPietro and Maltese.
Ben grabs his jacket from the back of the chair. “Let’s get out of here.”
We meet Serena, Nat, and the twins in the rooftop waiting room, and then we all pile in Ben’s helicopter and head back to Greenwich. Leo, Nat, and the twins have been staying there since the wedding, and I know Ben is happier having his sister close. He doesn’t trust Gino not to pull something if they were to stay in the city
“Are we doing the right thing with Chicago? Exposing our weaknesses like this?” Ben asks Leo and me as we walk toward the house, trailing behind the girls.
I know he’s referring to Greco colluding with the Colombians and Accardi partnering with the Russians in his quest to claim Chicago for his own. In outing them before the entire Italian Americanmafiosowe are exposing the divide within the five families and The Commission. It will make some of the dons nervous at a time when The Commission is still in its infancy.
“There is no other solution. If you don’t take control of the situation, they may gain the upper hand,” Leo says.
“New York is fractured no matter what way you look at it. This continues your legacy of transparency. There is nothing wrong with admitting there are teething problems. What’s more important is you are dealing with them head-on and you are not concealing the truth to make yourself look good,” I remind him because we have talked this through excessively. “You are humbling yourself in front of the others, and they will respond to that.” I clamp a hand on his shoulder, understanding his concern. We are walking a tightrope, and we all know it. His wife is visibly pregnant, and he’s worried about keeping her and Rowan safe. I would feel the same in his shoes.
Being the president of the body responsible for uniting all Italian Americanmafiosois no cake walk. It comes with a shit ton of responsibility and pressure. This won’t be the last time Ben is tested either. But passing this first hurdle will make the latter ones that little bit easier to overcome.
“Spoken like an experiencedconsigliere,” Leo says, offering me a genuine smile. “I can’t wait for Ben to announce your appointment so we get to work together officially.”
“I want that, but announcing it opens up a can of worms.” I eyeball Ben as we step into the lobby. “Has Saverio called again?” A blast of warm air hits me, heating up my icy bones.
Ben nods, depositing his briefcase on the hall table as he hears the sound of approaching footsteps. “I can’t put him off forever. We need to speak with him in Chicago after the meeting.”
Saverio left a cryptic message on Ben’s cell a week ago, which leads us to believe he may have learned the truth about me. None of us have any desire to deal with the hotheaded Vegas boss when there are so many other pressing problems, so Ben is keeping him at arm’s length. Something that will no doubt only exacerbate the situation. Right now, handling the Accardi-Greco problem is the most urgent priority, so Saverio Salerno will just have to wait.
“Daddy!” Rowan charges down the hall, throwing himself into Ben’s arms. “We learned about Mars in school today, and I want to tell you all about it.” The little guy is fixated on space and the stars, and his current ambition is to be an astronaut.
