Chapter 8 #2
“I’m not sworn into the Outfit, regardless of who my father is. I cannot speak on their behalf.” If he’s looking to make a treaty or any kind of peace talk, it would not be through me.
Luca’s head tilts, a taunting expression on his face. “You hold his ear, do you not?” He waves his hand, pulling on the cuff of his jacket. “Do you not operate an office within Manhattan as a front for them?”
I swallow, hating discussing anything to do with my business. “We are above board.”
“All your investors?”
My lips pull into a grin. “Test them and find out.”
He watches me for a moment before sighing. “I’m not an unreasonable man, James. I’ve been trying to form alliances civilly and somehow my words get twisted or perhaps my intentions misunderstood.”
I shake my head. “It's because you seek help while giving nothing in return. Nothing to offer, nothing to leverage with. Give me something real, Luca.”
“Alright. I believe there’s a coup happening within the Famiglia, and it started with the poisoning of my father.”
Sitting back stunned, I watch his stoic expression. “Your father was poisoned?”
He nods, cracking his neck to the side as if it physically pains him to say this aloud. “Yes and he’s not doing well.”
“So that’s why no one has seen him.”
Luca shrugs. “And for his safety.”
“You have no idea who to trust,” I say, mostly to myself. I know he’s not relaying this information to be vulnerable. I’m positive no one knows about his father’s poisoning, if it’s even the truth, and if that information spreads, he can pinpoint the leak straight to me.
His throat bobs and his jaw works back and forth before he blows out a breath. “I thought I did, but I seem to be questioning it more and more every day.”
I’ve heard the whispers of Ricky defecting.
He had been one of Luca’s closest friends, Capo in the making if not already promised to Gio.
His sister was married off to the Irish for an alliance that fell apart before it ever began.
Then Ricky and his family disappeared, the restaurant left a bloody mess and the house untouched.
“Why are you coming to me?” I ask.
His eyes narrow. “Because somehow you got the information to blow up everything.”
My lips pull into a smirk. “That I did. What do I get out of helping you?”
“What do you want?”
“Matt from VIXI security, a company that runs right here in your city. He’s Gio’s half-brother.”
Luca’s head snaps back. “My Gio?”
“Ahh. I didn’t know you two made it official, how adorable.”
He scowls at me and I laugh.
“Yeah, your Gio. You know how his father is, that raping bastard.”
Luca’s jaw tics and he nods. “Done.”
I lean back in my chair, staring at him.
“Someone in your organization has been planning this for years. Planted spies everywhere, and I linked them back to Chicago. I caught them on a communication channel Nico and I were tracking… for other purposes, and then slowly put the pieces together over the course of a few months. Unfortunately the hot-headed Irish did screw everything because the line has been dead since they openly picked off their traitors and declared war on your sparrows.”
Luca closes his eyes briefly, looking even more tired. “They’re not mine.”
I shrug. “But they could be. They operate under your name, they think you’re pulling the strings… so grab control.”
We stare at each other, and he relaxes in his chair, that tired expression coming back.
“Was your father really poisoned?”
His jaw tightens, his eyes flickering with fury. “Yes.”
“Why’d you tell me?”
Luca looks away. His throat bobs with a harsh swallow.
“It’s hard to fight a war when there’s nowhere you can safely rest your back.
” He sighs, rubbing a hand down his jaw.
“I had been genuine in seeking the Irish’s alliance.
Whoever is trying to kill my family destroyed that, and I need an ally. I’m not too prideful to admit that.”
It makes sense for him to seek out someone like me, a neutral party with no real stake in any organization. Granted if push comes to shove, I’ll side with the Outfit over anyone else.
“And when you find out who is behind all of it? What’s your plan? What if the Irish want their pound of flesh?”
His eye twitches. “What about the men he killed of mine?”
“You’re the one who needs allies,” I say with a shrug.
He nods slowly with annoyance. “I wouldn’t withhold anyone’s right to revenge.”
“He’s protective of his wife. And she was attacked in her own family’s restaurant, no? I would start there.”
Grief flashes across his face before he clears his throat. He stands, pulling at his suit jacket to straighten it out. “I hope this… understanding lands a lot better than my previous one.”
I smirk. “Might be a little better if you invite us to that little speakeasy you have in the city.”
His eyebrows raise. “You want to see my girls?”
Shaking my head, I laugh a little. “No, I have my girl. But I don’t mind making an appearance with Nico.”
Understanding dawns in his eyes, and I realize how tired he must be for him to not read my intentions. As long as I’ve been playing this game with the heirs, Luca has been one of the brightest. He controls his temper and calculates his moves, but his father’s poisoning must truly have him shaken.
“Consider it done.”
I nod, standing and holding out my hand. “The next time we’re in Manhattan. I’ll let you know.”
He shakes it. “Thank you.” He pauses, his dark eyes roaming over my face. “My father always spoke highly of yours. Even if the rumors ran rampant.”
I smile, pulling back and sitting down as Nico opens the door to let him out. “We may have to guide the new era of mafia under new regulations, but there’s still a lot we can learn from older generations.”
His eyebrows furrow but he shakes his head and leaves without another word. Nico comes back once he’s escorted Luca out of the building and sits across from me.
“What did he want?”
“An alliance,” I say.
Nico’s mouth drops open. “An alliance? With us? Or the Outfit?”
I shrug. “Are we not one and the same? I occupy the spot meant for the Outfit.”
“You are not sworn in.”
Nodding, I glance back down at my vibrating phone. “No, but the leash is around my neck regardless.”