“That’s not your business. D’Amato is handling it,” he says sharply.
He’s starting to piss me off now, so I snort, “Don’t seem like it to me.”
Now I’ve pissedhimoff. His fist comes down with a bang, shaking the coffee cups. “Because this is way above your pay grade. Just because you don’t know about it doesn’t mean nothing is happening. And it doesn’t matter either way, because Big Gee gave you an order.”
This is the problem with Seb. He’s so wedded to order, to following the rules, that he can’t believe anyone else might see the world a little different. He rises to his feet, and so do I, fast, because I’m not entirely sure he’s not going to hit me.
“You don’t get to rewrite orders just because they’re inconvenient,” he growls. “You don’t get to decide the rules don’t apply to you just because you think you have a prior claim.”
“Idohave a prior claim.”
“Big Gee told you you’d get your chance when things quiet down. Things are not fucking quiet right now, Orsini.”
“They’re never gonnabequiet!”
Both of us have raised our voices, and I’m aware that the noise from the shop beneath has hushed considerably.
Seb points at me. “You turn the kid loose. Today.”
“I can’t do that. He’s got no money, no friends, and someone’s out to kill him.”
He gives a bark of hard laughter. “Don’t pretend this is some act of charity, Orsini. You bought a human being at auction. Christ, I knew you were a member of that snake pit, but I never realized how exactly like the rest of those motherfuckers you really are.”
That stings, even though I can’t deny it. So I try a different tack. “You don’t believe me about the protection deal, you can ask the Clemenza yourself,” I say, and the sincerity in my tone seems to give him pause.
The truth is, I have no idea what that manipulative little shit would say if I got him face-to-face with Seb. He might claim I’d done it all against his will.
But I don’t think he would. The Clemenza knew the Obelisk was his last shot. He doesn’t want to go back out on the street any more than I want to let him.
And even if Seb tells me again that I need to let him go, orders me to do it, I’m not going to.
“Caligula Clemenza is mine,” I tell Seb. “I bought him fair and square. He knew what he was doing when he got on that stage,and given what you think about the place, you gotta know I was the best he could hope for among the buyers.”
“I never took you for such a dishonorable man,” Seb mutters, but I can see the conflict in his eyes. He knows what I’m saying is the truth. So I’m starting to feel pretty hopeful until he says, “You need to tell Big Gee about this.”
“I was going to.” It’s a lie.
And Seb can tell. “You go do this job in Red Hook, and then you get on your fucking knees to Big Gee and tell him what you’ve done,” he tells me seriously. “Because if you don’t, Orsini, I will. And when he sends someone to kill you for your disobedience, I’ll be first to raise my hand.”
On top of everything else the Clemenzas have done to me, now they’ve ruined my only friendship.
“I’ll tell the Boss,” I grit out. “But you gotta give me a few days to figure out some protections for the kid.”
The look Seb gives me suggests he doesn’t believe a word coming out of my mouth. “Hand him over to the Loyalists. They’d be fucking delighted to crown him king and play at power again.”
“Those motherfuckers couldn’t protect their own ballsacks. And D’Amato wouldn’t like it, either. Last thing he wants is a figurehead for the Clemenza leftovers to flock to.” I have no idea what Luca D’Amato, the Morelli Don, wants or doesn’t want when it comes to his old enemy. But from the look on Seb’s face, my wild shot has hit home. “Give me a few days to figure something out,” I repeat. “And then I’ll talk to the Boss.”
All Seb says is, “Get outta here.”
I’ll take it as a grace period. I have no intention at all of letting Caligula Clemenza leave my house, but I knew the moment I bought him that I’d have to explain myself to Big Gee one way or another. A few days will give me time to come up with a plausible story.
In the meantime, I head down to Red Hook, and despite Seb’s orders to keep it light, it’s a fucking mess. I’m meaner than usual. Leave one of them unconscious and the rest of them crying. They get the message, but it’s a little firmer than Seb wanted, and he’ll be pissed when he hears.
But it’s notmyfault. It’s the Clemenza’s. He’s gotten me all riled up, flashing his ass at me so my balls and my brain are mixed up.
So while I figure out how to make my case to Big Gee, and while I cool off and get my dick back in line, I’ll stay away from Caligula Clemenza.
Leave him down there alone in the dark.
