Chapter 35 #2
“Good, okay, so Twat wants to take over the entire city. He set up all these routes, made them work when Nico’s mother died, and he had Leonardo, Giovanni, and Seamus all dick drunk and money blinded to make it happen.
The Russians, by your accounts, have their own system and aren’t part of this, so he can’t just go after them.
So he waits, bides his time, and makes plans.
He has to be patient for it to work, though, right?
Move too fast, and everything will crash down around him.
Namely, he can’t risk Nico’s father finding out and coming down hard on him and the others in retaliation.
He also can’t risk Nico’s mother dying at his hands because she’s actually the brains behind it all.
The money person, the one to charm the men into doing what he wants. ”
“So where does the contract for Gia to marry Dante come in?” Sofia asks curiously. Nico lets out a low sound of displeasure and Sofia rolls her eyes at him. “You’re married to her now, you overgrown caveman, so it doesn’t matter, does it?”
I’m pretty sure my eyes are as wide as saucers. Did she really just speak that way to Nico? Her boss? And a Don? Then again, she’s surrounded by her family, so she probably feels safer doing it here than anywhere else. Still, I don’t know that I have those kinds of balls.
Nico glares at her but doesn’t argue. He just holds Gia even closer.
“He probably figured out that he wouldn’t be able to just take over,” Sienna interjects, breaking some of the tension.
“And everything in the mafia is about alliances and power, right? He had a son, and when Gia was born, and not knowing about me or Lucy, he saw an opportunity to bind Leonardo to him. Keep tabs on him and also make sure that Leonardo can never double cross him and kick him out. Not easily, anyway. So they make a contract, and it gets him one step closer to his plan.”
Amara nods her head emphatically. “Yes! Yes, exactly. In the meantime, they expand, they build, and maybe they plan on getting Seamus out of the way, but Nico’s mother falls for him.
It’s clear from her letters that she loved him in her way.
They had an affair for years. Leonardo was a way to pass the time, and a bit of excitement.
It was also a way for her to keep Leonardo from getting wise to any plans that she and Esposito were cooking up.
Same with sleeping with Giovanni. I mean, a leopard can’t change his spots, so I imagine he was always cunning and trying to figure out ways to come out on top, even then. ”
“Their father pitted them against each other, even though everyone knew Leonardo would succeed him,” Nico explains.
“It was his way of manipulating Giovanni into doing what he wanted. Always dangling that carrot to him. Maybe he would be the one chosen if he was better, smarter, and showed more promise.”
“So they built and refined their hidden empire for decades. Then Nico finds out about it, kills his mother, and that’s a big fucking problem.
All the documents, the plans, everything is hidden in this house.
No one knows where it is, they can’t get it.
So they have to act fast, and they have to start moving things around.
Nico shuts down what he finds, but because they had just enough time, they managed to rework so they didn’t lose everything.
Esposito would hate that, and so would the others.
Didn’t you say that things escalated around that time? ”
“Between Seamus and I, yes.”
“Seamus was the one you knew she was having an affair with, right?” Nico nods.
“Alright, so that means we have a pissed off lover, but they can’t afford a war because they still have to move things around to keep operating.
Esposito hates you for killing his sister, but more for disrupting everything, and having to finally make him work and figure things out on his own.
Leonardo probably started to take over, seeing it as his opportunity.
All of them want to be more powerful, right?
And maybe that’s when the fissures turned into large cracks between him, Giovanni, and Marco.
They all knew about the alliance and routes, but now that the one controlling all the figures and information is dead, there’s a new role to step in.
They wouldn’t consider Esposito as a challenge.
He’s small time, so that leaves the three of them to battle it out, and they probably also figured they could kick Seamus out because he was grieving her loss, probably distracted by Nico possibly going after him. ”
“I love her brain,” Rori beams. “Girl, you’re on a roll.”
Amara flushes, but she is on a roll and I can only watch her in shock and awe. Her brain is crazy smart.
“Okay, so after all of that, they get things figured out, but they have to be more careful. Nico has clocked the operation, and he’s going to be paying attention.
So they lie low, waiting, but behind closed doors they argue about who would run it or about new ideas to expand.
Leonardo probably didn’t want to listen, which pissed Giovanni and Marco off. ”
“I remember them arguing a lot before I was allowed to move into the apartment,” Gia confirms. “About routes and things, but I never heard anything about human trafficking. It was normally drugs and money laundering. Those were the big profits. Marco was frustrated that my father was being so slow about doing things, and Giovanni just hated my father for getting what he wanted and fought him at every turn. He also saw Marco as a threat because my father could technically remove him and put Marco in his place at any point. I’m still surprised he didn’t, honestly. ”
“He probably did the same as his father did. Pitted them against each other,” I offer. When everyone looks at me, I flush, but Massimo squeezes my side encouragingly.
“Yes, exactly, Lucy,” Amara beams. Okay, so what I said wasn’t stupid.
Good. “So now there’s all this going on, and Esposito is still running the empire while they start to fight.
He’s probably watching this as his opportunity to see what happens.
Maybe he was even going to start trying to take things over himself, but then Nico kidnaps Gia and it puts everything in motion.
” Her voice rises and starts to go faster with her excitement.
“That has to be it. Esposito saw this entire situation as his way to make it happen. Leonardo, Giovanni, and Marco are divided, and starting a war. Secrets are starting to unravel with everyone learning of our existence. He probably didn’t expect Marco to go to Seamus, though.
Or Giovanni to bring in someone from Italy. ”
“You’re giving my uncle more credit than he’s worth. He’s smart, but he’s not a mastermind.” Nico doesn’t look wholly convinced at the direction of this discussion.
“I don’t think he has to be,” Amara argues.
“I mean, you’re all doing the heavy lifting for him, right?
He just has to find people to align themselves with Leonardo, which he’s done.
You all do the fighting until eventually, it’s down to the winner and the Russians left.
Or, now that Giovanni is siding with them, the Russians might be out of here now.
If the winner is Leonardo, he takes him out and he’s ruling the entire city.
If it’s Giovanni or Marco, they’d probably do the same, but they’d just go about it differently.
What I don’t know is what he’ll do if you win. ” She looks at Nico expectantly.
“He’ll expect his son to kill me and help him rule both territories,” Nico answers simply. I jerk at that, my eyes widening, but no one else seems surprised. Wait, Dante? Dante’s his son, so he thinks Dante will kill Nico?
“He has to know that won’t happen,” Gia argues. “Dante’s family and he’s loyal to you.”
“But Esposito has the one thing that might make Dante follow orders,” Sofia says knowingly, eyes dark and lips pulled into a grim line. “His mother. He knows Dante loves his mother, does anything for her, and if he threatened her life, Dante might do what he’s told to save her.”
My chest tightens. Oh my God, this is a mess. How could a man do that to his own son? Wait, I already know. I have to imagine the man who is my father would do the same.
This really is a mess. How the hell are we going to come out of this with everyone alive? Fear seizes my chest, my body trembling with it.
We have to get out of here. I need to get Soren and run. Fast and far away.