Luca nodded his head. “Yes. They will.”
“And they will know I was the one who did it,” I told him. “It would be expected.”
“Yes,” he said. “But there’s no reason to name names. My father was a problem. He was taken care of. Just like my brother. End of discussion. We have the proof we need right here.”
“It’s enough for the family,” Tristan said. “Very few will vote against you now. We know many stayed with your father out of fear, and now that that fear is gone, they have no reason to.”
“Are you all right?” I asked my friend when he went quiet again.
“I will be,” he responded. “By tomorrow, I will be.” Clearing his throat, Luca grabbed his phone from the table and rose to his feet. “I’m going to bed. You both should do the same. I’ve doubled up the guards outside tonight, although I’m not expecting any problems. However, we may have to move again before all this is said and done.”
“Or just purchase a second house in a secret location,” Tristan said.
Luca smiled. Just a little, but it was there. “Or that.”
We said our goodnights and went our separate ways to our rooms in Luca’s large lake house. He was right. Tomorrow would be an eventful day. We needed to be alert. And hopefully, when all was said and done, Luca would be the head of the family. After all the hard work he’s put in and all the shit he’s taken from his family, he deserves it.
We just needed to live through tomorrow.
CHAPTER10
Enzo
Luca offered to hold the meeting at noon in the upstairs room of his club, the same room we’d met Sera’s father in, and the other members of the family agreed. More tables were brought up and drinks were supplied. Luca himself met the Capos at the elevator doors to shake their hands and welcome them. After they were checked for weapons, of course.
I stood just behind Luca, as did Tristan, and I received more than a few semi-hostile looks as men who’d known me since I was very young piled into the room. But I wasn’t worried. Half of them had wanted to kill me for years for some of the things I’d done. After today, a few more wouldn’t make that much of a difference.
When everyone had arrived, Tristan called the guards downstairs and told them to lock the doors to the club. No one was to go in or out until a decision had been made.
I gave a nod to two of Luigi’s men as they joined us at the big table. “Tony. Marco.”
“Enzo.” Marco returned the gesture as Tony glanced around the room. Marco was a long-time member of the family, of the older generation, and had been with Luigi for as long as I could remember. Tony was his son, and was still learning his manners. However, someday, he was going to piss off the wrong person, and they’d get beaten into him before his daddy could save him.
As Luca was still the underboss, and the only living son of the deceased, he was the first to speak. “As you all know by now, my father was killed last night,” Luca announced to the room at large. Condolences were spoken, and he accepted them with the spirit in which they were given before turning his attention to the two men who’d been at Luigi’s when it happened. “What were the police told?” he asked Marco.
“We told them what we always tell them. We have no idea what happened. The door was locked. We found him that way and his new bride was gone. No, we didn’t see or hear anything. Etc. Etc.”
“And any incriminating evidence was cleaned up before they arrived?”
They both nodded.
Luca nodded. “Good. As soon as they release his body, we’ll start the funeral arrangements.”
Marco stood up, and everyone’s attention turned to him. Except for mine. I continued to scan the room for any signs of anyone who wanted to take the decision being made today into their own hands. “As the only living son and the underboss, it’s the natural order of things that you, Luca, should be voted in as boss. But you know everyone’s going to be thinking the same thing we are, so I just thought we should talk about the elephant in the room, so to speak. I’m not saying you did this, and I’m not saying you didn’t. All I’m saying is that there will need to be proof that this wasn’t just you getting tired of waiting, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” Luca told him.
“Good,” Marco said. “And please accept our condolences, also. Your father, like your brother, will be greatly missed.”
“No,” Luca said. “He won’t. Luigi was a self-centered bastard who rose to his position strictly through intimidation and fear, and treated his men worse than dog shit on his shoe. He treated his family even worse. Me, in particular.”
“With all due respect, Luca,” Marco said. “You shouldn’t speak ill of the dead like that.”
Luca leveled an icy blue stare at him. “Why not?” When he didn’t respond, Luca leaned back in his chair. “So you think I killed my father in a power play.”
“Not you specifically, no,” Tony answered. He didn’t say anything more, or even so much as glance my way, but the implication was there that he knew exactly who’d pulled the trigger.
“Well,” Luca told him. “I have a lot of respect for you, Marco. And I’ve always been honest with you, so I’m going to be honest with you now.”
