“Buono’s money should have come to us after he died. That’s years of interest we’re due on top of the original seven and a half mil. Plus, I figure at least that much again as a screw-him tax for screwing us.”
Manny chuckled. “I like that. Screw-him tax. Heh.”
“Who is he now?” Dominic asked.
Gennaro crossed his arms and sneered. “Nice try, but that information stays with me until I know if you’re in or not.”
“I already told you I’m in,” Manny said.
“Do you have a plan?” Dominic asked.
“Of course I have a plan,” Gennaro said.
“Let me guess. That’s something else you’re not sharing until you know if I’m in.”
“Smart man. So? Are you?”
Dominic stared at him for a second, then nodded. “I’m in.”
After Dominic and Manny left,Gennaro grabbed another beer and settled into his recliner.
He hadn’t been this optimistic about the future in years. Soon, he would be able to shed his old life and spend the rest of his days in a tropical paradise, sipping umbrella drinks and watching the waves.
Before his meeting with Dominic and Manny, he’d been thinking he’d demand twenty-five million from Jack Coulter and settle for twenty. Now, he was beginning to think he should start higher. Forty million, maybe, or even fifty, andsettle for nothing less than thirty. Not that he’d let Dominic and Manny know that. He’d make them think they were going to split twenty mil. The rest would go straight into his pocket.
He was in the middle of daydreaming about his new life when the gate bell rang.
He checked the time. It was eleven-fifteen. Rosa never lifted a finger for him after ten.
The bell rang again.
Annoyed, he climbed out of his chair and went to the intercom.
He was thinking it was probably Dominic and Manny coming back to ask a stupid question, but when he checked the security camera feed, the face staring back at him was that of the guy who’d hired Gennaro to rough someone up the previous week.
What was his name? Steve? No, Stefan something or other.
He pressed the intercom button. “What?”
“Mr. Gennaro?”
Gennaro saw no reason to respond.
After a couple seconds, the guy said, “It’s Stefan Howard. You did a job for me last—”
“I know who you are. What do you want?”
“I want to hire you again.”
“Do you realize what time it is?”
“Oh, um, yeah. Sorry about the late hour. I just need a few minutes of your time.”
Gennaro considered telling him to go away, but Stefan seemed like the kind of guy who would keep coming back until he’d been heard out.
“You’ve got three minutes,” Gennaro said, then unlocked the gate and headed to the front door.
His plan was to let Stefan talk, tell him no, and send him on his way.
