“TheCamorrafought back –hard. They succeeded in keeping the Amatos out of the sweatshop business, but they were never able to fully eradicate them, due largely to the financial support Don Amato received from the rest of theCosa Nostra.
“For 20 years, theCamorraand the Amato family engaged in a shadow war. There were long periods ofdétente,followed by occasional flare-ups and bloodletting. Then the violence would eventually subside, and things would go back to normal.
“But according to the thug that Giorgio captured, the Capronis negotiated a truce with the rest of theCamorra.In exchange for an enduring peace, Cesare and Lucrezia promised to execute the entire Amato family and eliminate theCosa Nostrain Naples.”
Valentino scoffed. “Those two thought they could pull off what the rest of theCamorracouldn’t in 20 years? Good luck withthat.”
“And when were they planning to do it?” Lars asked.
Niccolo looked grim. “According to our unwilling informant… they did it three nights ago.”
Lars looked astonished, as did Valentino.
Niccolo must have already told Don Rosolini, because he didn’t react at all.
The rest of the men in the room had already heard it firsthand from theCamorrathug in the warehouse.
“Theykilledthe Amatos?” Lars asked, stunned.
“That’s impossible,” Valentino exclaimed.
“Not at all,” Niccolo replied. “If you’ll recall, Mezzasalma slaughtered the Agrellas right here in Florence, wiping out their entire organization in one night.”
“Butthathappened because your uncle betrayed the Agrellas,” Lars objected, “and arranged it so Mezzasalma could murder them.”
“Apparently, the Caproni siblings had been planning it for four years.”Niccolo turned to the television screen and pointed at the surveillance photo of Lucrezia Caproni. “And I’m bettingit was mostlyherplan.”
“If they killed the Amatos,” Valentino said, “then why haven’t we heard about it?! It should’ve been all over the news!”
“Cesare and his men invaded the compound in the dead of night and killed everyone inside,” Niccolo explained. “Then they occupied the mansion. No one called the police, so no one outside the Caproni clanknows about it yet.”
“How’d they get in?!” Valentino asked.
“Cesare captured Don Amato’s oldest son, Luciano, while he was visiting one of his mistresses.
“At the same time, halfway across town, Cesare’s men raided Luciano’s home and took his wife and children captive.
“Using the family as hostages, the Capronis forced Luciano to sneak them into the Amatos’ compound, where they slaughtered virtually everyone. In fact – ”
Out of nowhere, Alessandra spoke up. She sounded both distressed and cross as she asked, “Why am I here?”
Niccolo looked at her in surprise. “What?”
“I don’t want to hearanyof this, but you said it had some sort of bearing on me.” She turned angrily to her husband. “So what is it? Why am I listening to Niccolo go on and on about these monsters and all the horrible things they’ve done?”
When Niccolo spoke again, his voice was gentle. “Because the prisoner we captured said Cesare and Lucrezia didn’t just go after Don Amato because of a deal with theCamorra.They did it because they wanted information… about Dario.”
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Amurmur of shock rippled through the room.
Alessandra’s anger disappeared as all the blood drained out of her face.
Niccolo tried to break the news gently, but there was no easy way to put it. “Ever since their father’s death, Cesare has beenobsessedwith getting revenge – but Lucrezia held him back. She tookyearsto build their clan’s power base so they would have the resources to pull off the Amato caper.”
“What do they know about me?” Don Rosolini asked calmly.
“Presumably, whatever Don Amato knows,” Niccolo said. Then he corrected himself. “…knew.”
