Levi #5
“I cannot say how long we would stay out of this city,” Leo said bluntly. “It is not something I have a say in. But I can tell you it does not make sense for us to keep trying, not after this, not after everything. You would have years, maybe more. It all depends on who wins our war in the south.”
Interesting. Augustine hadn’t been providing Eliza with much support lately because, in his assessment, she had been handling things well on her own.
Perhaps after my hand in this mess, she could hold off Los Muertos’ advancement into The Family’s territory for years, perhaps even decades.
It was the sort of thing he would be delighted to know, and what a shame that I had no way to convey that information to him.
Even at the last leg of this little marathon of yours, you can’t help trying to give The Family a leg up, can you?
Old habits die hard, and boy oh boy was I a creature of habit.
“There will be no retaliation for what has happened here against anyone that is mine,” I said, and when his eyes flashed, I held up my bloodied hand. “Who is not part of the Marelli Family. I refer only to civilians.”
“They will say there are no innocents in war.”
“And they will have to understand there are contingencies already in place that should motivate them to remember there were innocents in a war. Except I won’t need an international coalition of countries to enforce that.”
“And how will you enforce it?”
I smiled. “The Company.”
Reg’s head snapped to me, and Leo’s twitching fingers stilled as that settled in. “You...have a contract with The Company? Those can’t be retracted, not without a great deal of effort.”
“And I have no intention of taking them back.”
“Then what is the point of this discussion?” Leo said in irritation. “It’s done.”
I understood his annoyance. The Company was a group of hired guns who could and would get to anyone.
.. so long as the price was paid. They had their own rules for their own people and potential clients.
The more destabilizing the death of a target, the higher the price, and if there was too much potential chaos, they would flatly refuse, no matter how much someone threatened, cajoled, pleaded, or bribed.
And they only took one contract for one person from one client, which is to say that much like the American justice system, they didn’t believe in double jeopardy.
If the target killed the Company representative, then the Company would no longer take out a contract on them.
They had other rules too, and those who violated them were targeted by The Company or blacklisted.
Los Muertos was one organization that fell into both categories.
I wasn’t exactly sure what Los Muertos had done to earn the double whammy, but they had truly fucked up.
Quite a few of their people were taken down quietly to make the point, and after that, Los Muertos was no longer allowed to take out contracts with The Company.
That sort of blacklist also marked them for smaller groups known for assassinations, and they often followed The Company, refusing contracts from those on the blacklist as well.
So right now, Leo knew I had a piece in the game that he and his people could never utilize in return.
“But it’s not,” I said. “You see, if you’re smart enough and willing to pay the right amount of money, you can set up a contingency. So don’t think of it as an inevitability, think of it as...a choice.”
“What choice?”
“You don’t touch mine, not those who are outside the Marelli Family. Easy. And if you do, then the contracts are activated, and at that point...good luck.”
“Contracts?” Leo asked, hitting the ‘s’ hard and staring at me with wide eyes. “Just how much did you put into this?”
“Do you have a wife, Leo? A girlfriend perhaps?”
“No.”
“A child.”
“Two.”
“Do you love those children?”
“With all of my heart and soul, God preserve them.”
“Well, I don’t need God to preserve the ones I love with all of my heart and soul,” I told him coldly. “Because I have more money than I know what to do with and a whole lot of people who I’m willing to kill to keep them preserved, do you understand?”
He muttered something and sucked in a breath. “Who?”
“I thought that was clear. Those who are mine and not in The Family. I won’t block you from targeting Family members; they are in this war as much as you are.”
“No, who are the contracts for?”
I smiled. “Now that would be telling.”
He stared. “Perdón?”
I shrugged. “I took contracts out on certain members of Los Muertos. I will not be giving up the names, but I will tell you, if I ever call in the contracts or it’s shown that Los Muertos was responsible intentionally or accidentally for the deaths of the people I have listed as important to me, then the contracts will be activated. ”
Reg blinked. “How the fuck are we supposed not to accidentally kill them when we don’t even know who they are?”
Leo tried for a grim smile, but it looked like a grimace. “By staying out of Cresson Point for a long time.”
“And if they get into our territory, and...get drunk and run over by one of us by accident?” Reg exclaimed. “This is bullshit, you know it.”
“The people listed under protection of the contracts will be alerted that they need to stay out of Los Muertos territory, but I doubt any of them will leave Cresson Point for long,” I said with a shrug.
“That and I have the Syndicate keeping an eye on them as well. If they should die, they’ll be alerted, do an investigation, and if they find that the death falls within the criteria of my contracts, they’ll alert The Company. ”
“And the Syndicate. Dios mio,” Leo muttered while Reg muttered something far more colorful and not as easily translated, but I was sure he’d called me a son of a donkey whore.
..which was new. “Surely you have nothing left. Not a penny to your name. Even as Augustine’s son, you cannot have much left. ”
“I think we should leave worrying about my finances to my personal accountant,” I said dryly.
“Leonardo,” Reg pleaded, staring at the older man. “You can’t...we kill this fucker now. Or later, when he’s not going to blow us up, but he’s not going to. Just kill him now, and we can...ignore the fucking asshole he’s been sleeping with and take over this city.”
Leo stared at me. “Was there anything else on your list?”
And there it was, the final stab in this fencing match. I looked at Reg. “He doesn’t leave this city.”
Which was the precise moment I saw that was exactly what Leo had been waiting for, as his shoulders slumped slightly, but not for a moment did he look surprised, or, for that matter, angry.
I don’t know what was worse for Reg, the realization that I had never intended to let him leave or that the man who might have been a trusted teacher had just let the request pass without an immediate refusal.
Tension filled the room, thick enough that it was a good thing emotions couldn’t take physical form, or we would all be suffocating.
A knock on the meeting room door made me jerk, and I almost dropped the detonator. We all spun as the door opened, and at the sight of the person coming slowly through the doorway, I felt my heart drop right down to my stomach.
“Dom?” I asked in a hoarse voice, aware that every mask and persona I had been using throughout the meeting were shredded instantly at the sight of him, and not caring.
His face and neck were a mess of bruising, turning yellow and fading; there was a bandage over his brow that was new, and his right arm was in a cast. He moved slowly as he inched into the room and closed the door behind him. “What...and how?”
“Really? You want to have that conversation right now?” he asked.
“You’re goddamn right I do,” I muttered. I struggled for a moment, composing myself before turning to Leo and giving him a hard look. “A moment.”
Careful not to pull him too hard, but not going out of my way to be super gentle, I pulled Dom toward the back of the room and behind a rolling whiteboard.
It wasn’t exactly private, but if we spoke quietly, they wouldn’t be able to make out what we were saying, and they wouldn’t be able to read our lips.
At least this way I was still in the room, and the threat of the detonator and the contracts would keep Leo and Reg in line. ..well, Leo maybe.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked and then dropped my voice. “You’re supposed to be recovering.”
“I’m recovered.”
“You’re moving slower than a ten-year resident at a retirement home.”
“Okay, that was a little mean.”
“Dom.”
“I’m just saying.”
“Dom.”
“I’m here to stop you fucking killing yourself,” he said, and thank God he kept his voice so low I had to lean in to hear him.
I stared at him. “I...who said anything about that?”
For someone who has spent years honing and even mastering the art of lying, a toddler could have said that and been more believable.
The look on Dom’s face said he was thinking along the same lines as he squinted at me.
“I’m not stupid, Levi. I can put the pieces together and come to my own conclusion, you know.
You think the only way for you to keep me and everyone else safe is to chase these assholes out and make sure you’re dead so no one targets you and gets one of us in the process. ”
Great, this was the same guy who liked to make out he didn’t have much in the way of brains.
“Well, fuck you, that’s not happening,” he said, snatching up my left hand. “You let go of that fucker, and we both go.”
“If only you knew how much your being here is absolutely fucking with everything I have laid out,” I told him with a scowl. “Now I’ve lost part of my leverage because neither of them is going to believe for a minute that I’m going to let you die here.”
“Well, then I guess you’ll have to figure something else out,” he said, scowling. “Fucking idiot. You had to go off and do things all on your own, didn’t you?”