Now, in my defense, I didn’t know any old, poor, broken-down gangsters.
I didn’t know any cautionary tales… unless you counted dead men.
Ten years from now, I was either going to be very rich and powerful – like the Rosolini brothers –
Or six feet under.
Nothing in between.
And maybe it was stupid…
But I was okay with that.
Better than okay.
All or nothing, baby.
I was definitelynotgoing to walk away from everything I had just to get a shitty job making eight euros an hour.
I was more than willing to put all my money on black, spin the wheel, and take my chances.
That wasn’t what was bothering me, though.
What bothered me was Luna had explained perfectly why Don Rosolini’s plans were destined to fail…
And now I felt obligated to tell Adriano.
I really,reallyhoped he wouldn’t shoot the messenger.
Anyway, all that was going through my head as I left Luna’s.
I was coming out the building’s front door when I saw a shady-looking guy standing in the alleyway to my left.
He was wearing baggy jeans, expensive sneakers, and a football jersey (soccer, not American football). His head was shaved like Jason Statham’s, although his scrawny body looked nothing like the Hollywood action star’s. He had a hook nose, a weak jaw, acne-scarred skin, and lots of bad tattoos on his arms.
He was probably just a few years younger than me, but we were from totally different worlds.
He was glancing around nervously like a pigeon on crack – obviously a lookout.
As soon as he heard the door open, his head swiveled over to me and we locked eyes.
When I didn’t look away, he glanced at my thousand-dollar suit with contempt. “Keep moving,stronzo.”
Mistake number one.
Except for my bosses, nobody told me what the fuck to do – especially some low-level gangster wannabepezzo di merda.
I headed straight for him. I wanted to know what he was a lookoutfor.
I heard somewhere that if a Great White shark starts circling you in the ocean, your best bet is to swim straight for it. Great Whites are so used to frightening all the other fish that they freak out when something comesatthem. They’re used to being the hunter, not the hunted. So if you act like you’re not afraid, they’ll dart away and start circling you again, trying to figure you out.
This guy probablythoughthe was Great White, but he wasn’t.
My bosses were Great Whites.
Me? I was a Tiger Shark.
This fucker was a guppy with delusions of grandeur.
