Roberto shakes his head once. “Pay all you want; I would have heard about this. Salvatore Costa going down that road? Someone would have talked.”
“His son did a good job hiding it,” I say. “Rocco kept the business moving under Salvatore’s name. He used signatures, older authorization chains, and people who either didn’t know Salvatore was dead or were paid enough not to care. He kept the image alive because Salvatore Costa's death from an overdose shows weakness. Salvatore Costa still feared, still untouchable, still in business? That gives Rocco time.”
Papà leans back slightly.
His face is unreadable.
“So Rocco blames me for his father’s death and wants payback,” he says.
“Yes and no.”
Giovanni looks at me. “What does that mean?”
I just click to the next page.
Another company structure appears.
Different names, states, and addresses, but similar structure to the last one.
Then I bring up the name.
Damiano Vitale.
“Damiano Vitale?” Antonio says. “He’s been out of the business for years.” He lowers his voice. “Since the incident down by the docks.”
I look at him. “And by incident, you mean when you were ambushed, and he ended up paralyzed from the waist down?”
Antonio’s eyes cut to mine.
“In a wheelchair for the rest of his life,” I add.
Giovanni’s expression goes flat. “We were working with Damiano.”
“Yes.”
“Damiano was an ally,” Roberto adds. “We were working with him when we were ambushed by the Mancinis. He took damage standing beside us.”
“Did he see it that way?” I ask. “Or did he see men who walked away while he never did?”
The silence that follows tells me enough.
I click again.
“Damiano has been quiet for years, yes. But money connected to his medical trusts, holding accounts, and old dockside interests moves through two companies that touched the insurance pressure after the casino attack.”
Roberto leans forward again. “You’re certain?”
“Not enough for court,” I say honestly. “But I’m not presenting this to a courtroom.”
He accepts that with a small nod.
I click to the next page.
“And then there is this.”
Yet another structure. This one is very different than the others. All the companies connected to it are new. All made within the past year.
Carlo Valenti.
