“Okay, that much is true,” Lars said with a smile, then looked over at me. “See you, Giorgio.”
“See you, boss.”
We walked over to one of the bulletproof Mercedes and got in.
One of the things I liked about Adriano was that he didn’t give a shit about looking like a bigshot. He just opened the backseat door himself.
That may not seem like a big deal, but I’d seen a lot of rich and powerful people – most of them not nearly as big as the Rosolinis – make their employees act like servants.
Let me open that door for you, sir.
Let me get that package for you, ma’am.
You want me to kiss your ass? Okay.
Adriano was running Florence behind the scenes, but he never lorded it over anybody.
It impressed the hell out of me, anyway.
As I slipped behind the wheel, Adriano joked, “No need for any of that fancy driving Rachel was teaching you. Just get me to Florence in one piece.”
“You got it, boss,” I said as I pulled out of the garage.
We drove past a bunch of foot soldiers doing calisthenics out on the lawn. Lots of new faces.
We needed them.
We lost 14 men the day Massimo rescued Lucia in Venice.
After the brothers killed Fausto in Rome, we finally had time to replenish our ranks, and the brothers began hiring like crazy. The OG foot soldiers helped whip the new guys into shape withexercise and running, and then Lars instructed them in firearms and hand-to-hand combat.
A lot had changed since I’d started working for the brothers – some of it good, some of it bad.
But I was proud that I’d gone through the fire with them and come out the other side.
I was one of the Rosolinis’ best men, and they knew it.
Just a few months after I was hired, I helped kill the Turk’s men when they invaded the mansion.
That was the first time I ever killed a man.
It wasn’t the last.
I was part of the shootout at the hotel the night Adriano met Bianca.
I fought Russian mercenaries on the cemetery island in Venice. Even though I got shot in the arm, I was lucky. I was one of the few foot soldiers to make it out alive.
No matter how big or how small, I followed every order.
From picking up Lars and Rachel the first night she met Don Rosolini…
To digging a grave for Lazaro, a fellow foot soldier who betrayed the family.
I was in Rome when they killed Fausto, and I watched as they made a new enemy out of the mafia don who ran the city.
In short, I’d made my bones. In theCosa Nostra,that was the name for doing something huge that proved your loyalty:making your bones.
I’d made my bones several times over. And as a reward, I was now the right-hand man to Adriano Rosolini, thecapoof all of Florence.
