Page 8 of King of War

I shake my head. “Sephora hates her father and her brothers even more than Carmine does. Only Junior and Dimitri are married, and their wives hate them too.” Mistresses are more likely to run their mouths, but they’ll stay quiet out of fear of repercussion from the wives. And as for their loyal men, the Bertellis buy their loyalty, they don’t earn it. That loyalty will simply shift elsewhere for the right price. As it always does. Loyalty and respect are the true currency of this city, not gold or poker chips. Not everybody understands that, which makes it easier for those of us who do.

Micah is still staring, cogs of his brain working overtime. “Is Carmine unhinged enough to take the credit for this?”

I shake my head. “He wants it to look like the Russians did it.”

“Why?” Rafael asks.

“So that it doesn’t start a civil war, Raf,” Micah says.

“Just an all-out war instead,” Rafael says, unable to hide the hint of excitement in his tone.

Rafael thrives in chaos. Luca and Micah absolutely do not. Me? I don’t live for anarchy, but I don’t shy away from it either. Some say I have a death wish, and they might be right. “Not if we play this the right way. The Volkovs have hated Joseph Bertelli since he killed that woman in their hotel.” Joseph Bertelli is Oscar’s oldest son and the next in line to be capo after him. I’ve hated him since we were teenagers, and I almost killed him once. Our fathers intervened and we called a truce, but I’ve despised him ever since. “Ivan Volkov is the new pakhan and as such, is trying to prove himself. I know how much he wanted Joseph strung up by his balls for what he did, but the don would have none of it. A Russian hit looks credible, and maybe Ivan would even be willing to take the credit for a hit like that.”

Rafael hums his agreement. “If anyone would, it’d be him. Man has balls of steel.”

“And probably shit for brains,” Micah adds. His relationship with Ivan’s predecessor, was strained to say the least, and so his dislike of the Russians runs deep. “So, did Carmine tell you why he wants this done now? Oscar Bertelli has been a pain in his ass for decades, and I haven’t heard of any new offenses. They seem to have kept their heads down since Joseph’s most recent incident.”

I know he’s not downplaying what Joseph did, but the fact that the guy has racked up so many incidents in the past ten years is another reason I’ll enjoy ending his life. “Carmine says he’s finally had enough. Maybe Oscar just ran his mouth one too many times and now his time is up.”

“I heard some whispers,” Luca says, calmly. Quietly. Like he didn’t just drop a bomb into the conversation.

I twist around in my chair. “What kind of whispers?”

He rolls his neck and draws in a breath through his nose. “That Oscar has something on the don. Something dangerous.”

I scowl at him. “And you never thought to mention this?”

“I hear a lot of shit about a lot of people. I don’t tell you all of it. I assumed it was part of their longstanding pissing contest.”

“Where did you hear this, Luca?” Micah asks him.

He takes a few seconds to answer, and now I realize why he never told us. “At Frenchy’s.”

I roll my eyes and resist slamming my fist onto the table. “What have I told you about going to that place, Luca? One of these days you’re gonna get yourself fucking killed.”

He shrugs. “You have your demons, Enzo, and I have mine.”

“So, you heard it from a junkie whore?” Rafael snorts. “No wonder you kept it to yourself.”

Luca directs all of his attention to Rafael. “They’re not junkies or whores, Raf.” His tone is calm and collected, dripping with ice. He’s still. Composed. Serene. Which is when Luca is at his most dangerous.

Rafael snorts, aware of Luca’s growing ire but clearly not giving a shit. The last thing I need right now is those two rolling around the room fighting like teenagers.

“Enough!” I warn them both before addressing my youngest brother. “Was it credible, or just idle gossip?”

“Hard to tell. There’s a lot of chat about the don lately. Concern about his state of mind, especially since Pop died. A lot of people want him out of the picture, but nobody has the balls to stand up to him. So they all just talk shit about him instead.”

“But if Oscar actually does have something of substance on him, then it would be a good reason to have them taken care of,” Micah says.

Rafael folds his arms across his chest. “Or it’s just one rumor too many, and Carmine wants to put a stop to it.”

Both of those scenarios make sense. “I’ll be sure to ask Oscar what he has on the don before I kill him,” I assure them.

Rafael claps me on the back. “Could be something big enough to finally get you out from under that vicious cunt?”

“And then what?” I shake my head. “Another equally vicious cunt takes his place. Or worse, Vinny! And it never fucking ends, Raf. This is who we are and what we do.” There was a time when I thought there could be something more for me, but that was a stupid fucking pipe dream. This life is all I’ll ever be good for.

It’s Luca who speaks next. “You take his place. You’re the next in line, not Vinny. The only reason people don’t stand up to him is because he has you by his side, Enzo.” My youngest brother is a man of few words, and he always chooses them wisely.