“Here, let me do it,” Gio said, doing something to the screen and refocusing it. He looked into the camera and hissed. “Damn. What the fuck happened to your face, Marchetti?”
I shot him a look. “Are we going to talk about the issue at hand, or do you wanna gossip for the next ten minutes?”
Gio pressed his lips together as he stared at me. If no one else were here, he’d go the gossip route. The world could be ending in the middle of an alien invasion or some shit, and Gio would still be asking questions about things that were none of his business. When this conversation was over, he would start blowing up my phone to ask what happened. Nosey motherfucker. This meeting was bullshit, anyway. I was itching to get the fuck out of this safe house and go after Giuseppe. Just thinking about him made my blood boil.
Loren cleared his throat and folded his hands on the desk like a fucking math teacher. “Giuseppe sent Rifle down there.”
I sank back in my chair. “Fuuuuuck.”
“Aren’t you cool with him?” Dom turned to me.
“Cool enough, but he’s a hired gun.” I drummed my fingers on the arm of the chair.
Rifle, short for Rifleman, was a sharpshooter. It was something we’d bonded over at the shooting range. We both took our rifles there from time to time and had a little fun with the targets. We’d try to make it harder for each other and make bets. I usually won. We learned that we knew some of the same people. So yeah, I was cool with Rifle out there, but I didn’t trust people who made a living off killing. None of us did.
“Who’d Giuseppe put a hit on?” I asked.
“Whoever’s helping Nora, so basically, all you motherfuckers,” Gio said.
“Does he know we have her?” Dom asked.
“Don’t think so. They think she ran away on her own and is using the USB drive for blackmail. They’ve only said that they want her alive and well enough to walk down the aisle.”
I stilled. Worst-case scenario, all of us die, and she ends up marrying that son of a bitch. In the best-case scenario, Adriano and Giuseppe would be six feet under before she even tried on the wedding dress.
“Giuseppe means to start a war,” Gio said. “My dad was at his house last night and said he could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears.”
I leaned back in my chair. “What does Joe say about all of it?”
“He didn’t have much to say.” Gio shrugged. “What is there to say? When Giuseppe wants something, he gets it.”
“He claims that if the USB drive and ledger are given back, and Lenora shows up for the wedding, he’ll put all of this behind him,” Loren said.
“And you believe him?” I shot him a look.
“I do,” he said. “What he’s gaining with the Salvati’s is much bigger than a USB drive and a ledger only he understands. Besides, it’s his daughter. You think he’d hurt her?”
None of us said a word, but I was sure Lorenzo could hear our resounding “yes” anyway.
“He’s responsible for the murders,” I said.
“You’re gonna have to be more specific,” Gio said.
“Our mothers,” Michael said behind me.
“What the fuck is he doing there?” Loren sat straighter in his seat. “You took him to the safe house?”
“He’s my brother.”
“He’s a cop,” Loren spat.
“I’m not a cop. I’m a detective,” Michael said. “There’s a difference.”
Loren glowered.
“We have bigger things to worry about,” I snapped.
“My father was responsible for the massacre in Providence,” Dom said loudly to end Loren and Michael’s beef. Once again, silence filled both sides of the screen.
