“Hell, yeah, it’s a good point. And since Fratelli’s smart, the more time Ricky gives him, the more time he has to come up with a way to get out of paying.”
“I hadn’t thought about it like that.”
“Lucky for you, I have. If we want to see that money, we need to keep tightening the screws.”
Manny nodded. “Yeah, okay. That makes sense. So, let’s call Ricky and tell him that’s what we need to do.”
“You really think he’ll listen to us?”
“He might.”
“Whatever we say won’t change his mind, so screw Ricky,” Dominic said. “We don’t need him for this anyway. We pressure Fratelli ourselves.”
“We can?”
“Manny, how many times have we been hired to rough someone up who was late paying their bill?”
“More than I can count.”
“This is no different, except this time we’re working for ourselves.”
Manny thought about it, and then nodded. “You always were a smart one, Dom. So, what are we going to do?”
A short time earlier, rightafter Gennaro ended his call with Dominic and Manny, Rosa placed the receiver of her bedroom extension back in its cradle.
She’d had it on mute, so her brother and his two stooges hadn’t a clue she’d been listening in.
Contrary to what dear old Ricky thought, she had not forgiven him for killing her fiancé, years earlier, and never would. But instead of moving away and cutting contact, she had taken to heart the adagerevenge is a dish best served cold, and had stayed in his employ.
In addition to eavesdropping on his calls for years, she’d long since gained access to his computer files and email account. She’d even had made a clone of his cell phone that allowed her to check his text messages, voicemails, notes, and anything else he saved on his device.
Though her brother would never admit it, she was the smarter of the two. To him, she was “just a woman” and should stick to “woman things.”
She’d bypassed many opportunities to get back at him, choosing instead to wait for something that would completely destroy him.
And boy, was she glad she had. His fixation with recovering Eduardo Buono’s money from Johnny Fratelli had gifted her the mother lode of payback chances.
She pulled on a cardigan, grabbed her purse, and slipped out of her bedroom.
Her brother was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, drinking a beer.
When she rapped a knuckle against the doorway, he jerked in surprise and sloshed some of his drink onto his shirt.
“Dammit, Rosa! I told you never to sneak up on me.”
It was all she could do not to smile. “I’m going to the market. Is there anything you want?”
“An apology maybe?”
“So that’s a no?”
“More beer. And not the cheap stuff. Something good.”
Knowing it would anger him, she tsked and shook her head. “A bit early for that, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion!”
With a shrug, she turned to leave.
