Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“I’d judge you if you did.”
“Working for us is a step down from your previous employment, so I find your interest suspicious.”
“Let’s be real,” he said. “Any of the other organizations in Sicily and on the mainland would snatch me up in a heartbeat. The Skull King tried to recruit me years ago when I was in Florence. But you’re my first stop because I respect your work.”
“You respect my work?” my father asked with slight incredulity.
“You operate your business morally and honorably. I can’t say the same for the others.”
My father gauged him, as if trying to understand if this man was just blowing smoke up his ass.
I didn’t believe he was.
“You don’t know anything about my business,” my father said.
Wolfe stared my father down. “I know at the heart of your criminal activities, you’re a family business—a vineyard. That you’re proud of the wine you make from the land that’s been in your family for generations. I know you pay your vineyard workers more than all the other vineyards here. When you say family is everything to you, you actually mean it. I know you only do business with distributors who operate with the same code of ethics that you share. That your connections are based on friendship rather than opportunity. You’re old-fashioned, how the Mafia used to be in the early nineteen hundreds.”
My father had nothing to say to that—probably because Wolfe was right on the money. “I’ll consider your request.”
Wolfe gave a nod. “Thank you, Don Mancini.” He rose to his feet, a statue compared to everyone else, especially those who were seated. When he started to turn away, his eyes locked with mine, and a little smile emerged. He did it right in front of my father because this man truly didn’t give a fuck.
He made his way behind the couch and walked out.
It was quiet for minutes after he was gone, like my father wanted to make sure Wolfe was really gone from the villa before he said a word. “That prick is one arrogant son of a bitch.” He brought the cigar to his lips and took a drag before he snuffed it out in the ashtray. It had almost burned down completely because of the length of the conversation. “I don’t like him.”
“I don’t like him either,” Elio said as he sat on the other couch.
Disappointment gripped me, but I said nothing. If I vouched for him, they might suspect my white-hot burning attraction to that Roman god. I wondered what other parts of his body were covered in ink.
My brother took a seat in the armchair and lit up his own cigar before he lounged against the back of the chair.
Another silence fell.
My father addressed my brother without looking at him. “Leo?”
He gave a shrug.
I stared at my brother and hoped he would say what I wanted to hear.
Leo gave a puff on the cigar and let the smoke escape his mouth. “He’s an asshole with an attitude that needs to be knocked down a peg, but…”
Yes, but.
“I don’t think he’s bullshitting us.” Leo brought the cigar to his lips again and took another drag before he released the cloud of smoke. “He doesn’t seem to realize shit is getting bad for us, and he would be a good person to have in our corner in times like these.”
“Not if we don’t trust him,” my father said.
“Trust is earned over time and trials,” Elio said. “In that regard, Wolfe is no different from our other guys. And my sources tell me that the falling-out with Cosa Nostra is true. I’ve heard it in many different places.”
“Then it sounds like I’m the odd man out here.” My father turned to me. “Frankie?”
He put me on the spot, and I still felt hot from the flames Wolfe had brought into the room. I did my best to remain still and stoic, to not offer a clue about the attraction that nearly gave me third-degree burns. “I agree with Leo. People are starting to misinterpret our integrity for weakness. We need new blood to maintain our position. His falling-out with Cosa Nostra could be the perfect opportunity for us to strengthen our ranks.” I felt winded by what I’d said, but I forced my words to come out slow and normal…though it felt abnormal as I did it.
Leo stared at me, smoke coming out of his nostrils as he held the cigar between his fingertips.
My father stared across the room for a while before he shifted his eyes to Elio.
“I think we have more to gain than we have to lose,” Elio said. “I’ve heard multiple accounts that Wolfe gets the job done…violently.”
6
WOLFE
I was at my villa in Palermo, sitting on the patio looking at the Mediterranean with a cigar in my mouth, when Salvatore called. It was morning, so I’d just finished the mulberry granita and the brioche my housemaid prepared for me.