Chapter Eight
Enzo Rissi
“Does she know that one of your jobs is to report back to me?” I asked as Jaimie expressed all of Aria’s requests over the line.
“I decided it would be in your best interest to leave that information out. Do you want me to accept this job or turn her down?”
Jaimie had always been loyal to the person who signed her checks; right now, I was that man. And the checks in question were substantial enough that I expected nothing less than complete dedication.
Noemi Bianchi.
She wasn’t just important to Aria. She seemed to be a mystery to all parties involved. Alonzo’s reports of her being held for ransom were too meticulous. He had too much information on the situation for it to be the entire truth.
Whether or not Aria’s sister was one of our greatest enemies was an essential snippet of information I never would have hired Jaimie to gather. It would have been too much of a risk to send her there and learn that Noemi was, indeed, plotting against her bloodline.
This was an interesting loophole, though.
“Do whatever she wants you to do, but give me the information first. Send your invoice to me for payment, but don’t mention my name when you’re in Russian territory unless you want to get yourself killed.”
“I know what I’m doing,” she said hoarsely before ending the call.
I exhaled loudly before leaning back in my seat and scanning the room around me.
Uncle Giovanni leaned forward. “Everything okay?”
“Just some more of the Russian bullshit. We’re getting some intel in the next couple of weeks on the other Bianchi girl’s involvement with them.”
He nodded, but one of the top soldiers—a spy who went by Owl—cut in. “The Russians haven’t made a move since shortly after Mauro and Lia’s deaths, and all the reports we’ve received have confirmed that their killer was a traitor, and he was taken care of appropriately. The conflicts seem centralized to the Bianchi territory now.”
“With the new alliance, if they become too prolific, we’ll be expected to provide backup,” I reminded him. “We have to present a unified front.”
“We can only be so unified when Alonzo is escalating,” Uncle Giovanni replied with a huff. “That’s why I called this meeting with all of you. We have vital information regarding this alliance and its potential to sour.”
There were only the most trusted advisors and made men in the room around us. All of them had proven themselves over the years, and I could trust each with my life. Owl stood in the shadow at the back of the room. He had spent so long spying for us that it seemed to be second nature for him to hide himself these days.
The twins, Bartolo and Matthew, had been around as long as I had been alive. Bartolo did the dirtiest dealings—strong-arming when necessary and killing people who stepped out of line—and Matthew offered a lighter counterpart to his brutality with a genuine smile and phenomenal negotiation skills. They did most of the checks on our allied businesses, and Bartolo convinced others to join our cause.
Kole acted as our local drug expert and scientist. He was responsible for the launches of all lab-modified narcotics, though he didn’t look the part. His glasses were the only indication of his intelligence. The rest of him had been covered in head-to-toe tattoos and piercings.
The final part of our group couldn’t be here.
The final man wasn’t here. He never was, and while the men around us knew there was a fifth man, nobody knew his name.
Uncle Giovanni continued when he had all of our attention. “We have word from our inside source that Alonzo is planning a coup. He’s keeping the information close to his chest, and it’s impossible to know how many steps he’s taken.”
“That’s nothing new. He’s been wanting to be capo dei capi for years. Maybe it’s time you take the title you’re owed, Uncle.”
And he was. In assets and manpower alone, he could have taken out Alonzo years ago, and he knew it. But he’d always been fond of a split system. Too much power for one man could get to his head, and Uncle Giovanni had never wanted all the power for himself.
Alonzo had vastly different ideas.
“The source thinks something has changed. He’s done something to put his plans into action, and he has reason to believe the wedding was a distraction from whatever he is actually doing. Has there been any talk of what could be happening?”
We all looked toward Owl, but he shook his head. “All my chatter has been related to the Russians, and assessing that threat, I’ll turn some of my eyes and ears toward the Bianchi estate to see if there’s anything they can find.”
“Keep looking at the Russians too,” I told him. “If I find any important information there, we’ll have a leg up on that conflict.”
Owl nodded. “What threat takes priority right now.”
Uncle Giovanni had a lot to consider. The Russians haven’t made another move on us, and we haven’t launched any strikes, either. There seemed to be a commodity between their attacks and the Bianchi attacks. They never used to attack without some provocation, but since the death of the former mob boss, there had been relatively consistent strikes against us.
Did they feel we were even now that my mother and father had been killed?
“Alonzo has been talking a lot about his endgame, according to all reports. I will not escalate the issue until there are definitive signs of his regression.”
“If we wait too long, he could be successful. We don’t know what he has on us. This marriage was a showboat, and everyone knows it. He suggested it to keep us pacified and docile. We need to strike and strike hard to prevent future injury,” I told him.
Matthew chimed in, “Maybe a more tactical approach would be appropriate first. Confronting Alonzo and figuring out what his demands are. It’s possible we can meet them and keep everyone happy.”
“His demand is capo dei capi, and he won’t stop there. He’s a greedy motherfucker,” Bartolo grumbled, cracking his knuckles. “Is there enough intel to be sure he plans on doing anything? If there’s enough information, we’ll have the right to stop him. If there’s not—”
“We could be starting another conflict that rages for generations,” I interjected.
We had just emerged from a feud a few years ago when the mafia's prevalent Italian families convened into the two most powerful—the Rissis and the Bianchis. Many of our subordinates still used their family names and worked beneath us, but nobody was interested in challenging us. Not anymore.
But by convening into two families, the “boss of bosses” title had been forfeited.
Uncle Giovanni thought it was for the best. Alonzo had never liked it.
“Is he really willing to risk a fallout like this by coming after us?” Matthew asked.
Alonzo was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. Alonzo had strategies that spanned for years, and people played into them. If he was talking about an endgame, it meant he was really fucking close to seeing through one of those strategies.
“The marriage has to be phony,” I said, bouncing my leg as I considered. “It’s the only thing that makes sense—the only reason he would be interested in mending relations that he hasn’t been interested in maintaining for a long time.”
Uncle Giovanni nodded. “I agree.”
“Has Aria been properly vetted? Is she a mole?”
“We’ve kept an eye on all of his daughters for years. The only problematic one was the sister colluding with Anton Petrov for months before going rogue. Livia has a lot of friendships with different types of people, some who might prove problematic in the future, but she’s a child. Evelina and Aria Bianchi are both clean. Either of them would have been suitable.”
I snarled my response. “She’s probably good at hiding her involvement then. She can’t be trusted.”
Uncle Giovanni didn’t so much as break his calm demeanor. “Your temper and quickness in jumping to conclusions will be the end of you one day, Enzo. Not every woman is your mother.”
The words stung, and I knew he intended them to do just that.
“She’s a Bianchi .”
“Do you think I chose her for no reason? If you treat her well, she has the potential to be very valuable to us in the future. Aria seems to be more interested in doing things legally and morally than anyone else in this industry, and her career choice shows that. As far as we know, she’s never been involved in any mob business. She can be trusted.”
As far as you know.
You would have said the same thing about the woman who gave birth to me too.
But something he said sank into my chest. “Career choice?” I asked. “What does she do?”
Uncle Giovanni gave me a knowing smile. “Instead of distancing yourself from your wife, why don’t you try giving her the benefit of the doubt and talk to her.”
“You’d be foolish to trust her this easily,” I declared.
His expression shifted, and a dark frustration filled his eyes. One I so rarely saw.
“I’ll tell you this once, Enzo. I don’t trust her. I don’t trust anyone. I said we would give her the benefit of the doubt, not let her in entirely. You’re forgetting yourself this evening, and I will forgive you because of the circumstances. But it was my brother who was recently killed.
“Yes, he was your father. But I watched him fall for Rebecca, and I watched as he felt the betrayal she had dealt him. I watched my brother shatter because of a betrayal, and then I watched him come back from that despair to care for you . I don’t plan on watching that happen to anyone else I love. I didn’t take this arrangement lightly, and if there’s any indication she isn’t loyal, I’ll take action.”
He leaned forward, just a bit closer to drive his point home. “You see your mother’s betrayal in everyone you’ve met, and you have allowed it to dictate your relationships. I have tried to teach you to let that ball of rage and hatred go, but it’s getting deeper as you grow older. If you let it consume you, you won’t return from that. Nobody ever does.”
“I am reasonably wary of someone who came from a monster.”
“Remember what I said,” he reminded me. “The apple may not fall far from the tree—”
“But there will always be enough distance to separate the two,” I reiterated, leaning back in my seat with a scowl. “Nevertheless, being passive about potential threats will get you and all of us killed.”
“Maybe, but until you’re in my position, this is my decision. Go home and talk to your new bride. If you believe she’s a threat, keep her close. You know the saying: ‘Keep your friends close and enemies closer.’”
I ground my teeth at the thought, but I nodded.
He was right. I needed to keep her close if I wanted to make sure she wasn’t after me or my family, but I wasn’t dumb enough to see the problem with doing that.
Aria was more than a random enemy.
No matter how hard I pushed her away, something would always bring us back together.
Right now, it was my uncle and his damn proverbs.