I’d only been working for the Rosolinis a couple of months when Leonardo died and Dante left to follow Fausto. I’d liked Dante before that, but afterwards it felt like he abandoned the brothers in their moment of greatest need.
Not to mention that when Fausto turned out to be a traitor to his own family, Dante had stayed with him.
Andthenhe had betrayed Fausto in Rome.
I didn’t like it.
If you’re going to leave,leave.
Don’t fucking stab people in the back.
I knew Dante’s switching sides helped Don Rosolini and his brothers, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth.
Dante felt like an opportunist to me – someone who only looked out for himself.
But the deed was done. In exchange for conspiring against his old boss, he had taken over Fausto’s old territory.
Nothing I could do about it…
But I didn’t have tolikeit.
At least he ruled over his territory on behalf of the family, in exactly the same way that Adriano controlled Florence.
Roberto sat on a nearby sofa watching Niccolo and Sofia’s chess game. Unlike his twin brother and new sister-in-law, who were both dressed stylishly but casually, Roberto wore a three-piece suit with a tie.
“You’re late,” Niccolo said jovially as we walked in, though he didn’t look up from the chessboard. “And from the whiff of barnyard I detect in the air, I’ll bet you were down playing Fight Club in the basement.”
“First rule of Fight Club is we don’t talk about Fight Club,” Valentino said.
“It’s the second rule, too, I hear,” Niccolo replied.
“Ihear thatYOUfight with your mind, not your body,” Adriano said mockingly.
“Damn straight,” Niccolo said with a grin.
“Dante,” Adriano said, though not exactly in the friendliest tone of voice.
My boss had never said anything about it to me, but I was pretty sure he agreed with me about his fellowcapo.
“Adriano,” Dante replied.
“Hey, Sofia,” Adriano called out.
She smiled, more polite than warm. But then again, that was Sofia for you.
“Hello, Adriano. Hi, Giorgio. Who’s this?” she asked about Raffaelo.
“Raffaelo Carabello,” he said with a jaunty little wave. “Resident gunshot expert, at your service.”
“Oh,” she said in surprise. “That’s unusual.”
“Not in our line of work,” Niccolo said as he continued to study his chess pieces.
Raffaelo shook hands with Dante and Roberto, and they exchanged pleasantries.
“You joining us in the meeting, Sofia?” Adriano asked.
“Yes.”
