Chapter 88
Giorgio
Istood in the parlor with the men and women of the Rosolini family. It was an incredible honor, seeing as I was the only non-family member present.
I just tried to keep my mind on what was happening –
And off of Emilia.
Don Rosolini sat front and center in a chair, while Alessandra sat on a sofa next to Caterina.
On another couch, Adriano held Bianca. Lucia sat beside her as a comforting presence.
There were Roberto and Mei-ling…
Lars and Rachel…
Massimo…
Valentino…
And Sofia, sitting in the corner by herself.
Niccolo stood next to a flat-screen television on a wall. Everyone faced him as he began to talk.
“As you all know, Bianca’s shop was attacked this morning.
Two armed assailants entered, threatened Bianca and Lucia, and firebombed the store, destroying everything inside.
Bianca, please know that everyone here extends our most heartfelt sympathies.
We know how hard you worked… and we will rebuild. I promise you that.”
Bianca nodded, her face a picture of misery. Everyone looked at her sympathetically as Adriano hugged her and Lucia squeezed her hand.
Niccolo gestured towards me. “Thanks to Giorgio, the two assailants were shot and killed before they could harm either Bianca or Lucia. Giorgio, we thank you for your bravery.”
I felt a swell of both pride and embarrassment as everyone expressed their gratitude.
The most affecting came from Massimo, who put his hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. “Again – thank you.”
“I was just doing my job.”
“Nevertheless, I owe you a debt I can never repay. Mille grazie.”
Niccolo continued. “Giorgio also shot and subdued a third man, the getaway driver. We took him to the warehouse in Scandicci and… thanks to some creative interrogation, courtesy of Mei-ling… we now know who we’re up against.”
Everyone who hadn’t been at the warehouse glanced at Mei-ling. She just smiled enigmatically.
Niccolo turned on the television, which he was using as a large display for his laptop.
On the TV was a police mugshot of a guy in his late 20s, clean-shaven, with a close-cropped buzzcut rather than a fully shaved head.
He wasn’t ugly – certainly not like the three thugs who had attacked Bianca’s dress shop – but he was far from attractive.
He wore a wifebeater that showed off his thick neck and muscular shoulders.
There were lots of gang tattoos on his exposed skin – ugly designs that looked like a back-alley shop run by ex-cons had done them.
He was a scary-looking bastard. It wasn’t the tattoos; it was the cold, dead look in his eyes as he stared straight at the camera. No fear, no anger, no emotion whatsoever.
It was the gaze of a stone-cold psychopath.
“This is the only known picture of the man behind today’s attack,” Niccolo said. “Our contacts in the Florence police department were able to get me his mugshot from Naples. He was picked up six years ago on a minor assault charge that was later dropped because the victim refused to testify.
“Based on secondhand information from the Neapolitan underworld, police believe that he has committed well over two dozen murders, but the cops haven’t been able to pin any of them on him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you… Cesare Caproni.”
Don Rosolini didn’t react, which let me know that Niccolo had already told him –
But Lars stood up straight, his face alarmed. “Wait – Caproni?!”
“Yes,” Niccolo said with a grim smile. “Son of Aristide Caproni, the gangster you and Dario killed in prison.”
Don Rosolini glanced over at Alessandra.
She was staring at the floor, refusing to look at the screen.
Niccolo continued. “The Capronis are Camorra. Out of dozens of clans in Naples, theirs is one of the smaller groups.
“Unlike the Cosa Nostra, Camorra clans are rarely run by blood-related families. The Capronis are an exception – or at least have been since Aristide’s former boss had a heart attack six years ago.
“Cesare was the clan’s Enforcer by the time he was 22, which is when this photograph was taken. After his father’s death, Cesare took over as clan co-leader with his sister, Lucrezia Caproni.”
Niccolo tapped a key on the laptop, and the television screen switched to a police surveillance photograph of a woman in her twenties. She was attractive – tall and lithe with long brown hair – and wore designer clothes. A Birkin handbag hung over her shoulder.
She also had on oversized Chanel sunglasses with side flaps that completely hid her eyes.
“Lucrezia is Cesare’s younger sister and the reputed brains of the operation. Apparently, Aristide had delusions of grandeur when he named his children.”
“Uh… I don’t get it,” Valentino spoke up. I was glad he said something, because I didn’t get it, either. “Why delusions of grandeur?”
“Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia were the two most famous offspring of an incredibly powerful and wealthy family in the 15th and 16th centuries,” Niccolo explained.
“Originally from Spain, the Borgias settled in Rome and produced two popes.
Cesare was the illegitimate son of the second pontiff, Alexander VI.
“Cesare Borgia became the leader of his own mercenary army for hire, through which he achieved significant power in Renaissance Italy. He was renowned for his cunning, ruthlessness, and cruelty. Interesting fact: Cesare served as the inspiration for Niccolo Machiavelli – ”
Niccolo paused, smiled, and gestured to himself.
“ – my namesake – when Machiavelli wrote The Prince. Cesare’s tactics were brutal but enormously effective, and Machiavelli used them as guiding principles while writing his masterpiece.
“Cesare died at only 31 years of age when he was caught alone during an uprising, knocked from his horse, and slaughtered by enemy soldiers. A rather ignominious end to a brilliant career.
“Another point of interest: Cesare was supposedly so handsome that he served as the model for Christ in many Renaissance paintings. Those paintings became the basis for the fair-skinned, European-style Messiah seen in many depictions today.” Niccolo paused, then said wryly, “Quite a bit different from our modern-day Cesare, who’s a bit…
lacking in the looks department, shall we say.
“Lucrezia Borgia was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander and Cesare Borgia’s sister. Being a woman in Renaissance Italy limited her options, but she was no less cunning and manipulative than her brother.
“She married three times – all of them arranged by her father for political gain.
The first marriage was annulled. The second ended with the incredibly suspicious death of her husband.
Many of her contemporaries believed that Lucrezia poisoned him.
Some even claimed she possessed a poison ring she used for the deed.
“Our modern-day Lucrezia isn’t married, nor does she appear to use poison – but she is every bit as capable as her historical namesake, and reportedly far more intelligent than her thuggish brother.
“One other thing of note. Though there is no proof – and some historians believe it was merely slander from their rivals – the Borgia siblings supposedly had an incestuous relationship.”
Several of the women – Alessandra, Cat, and Bianca – scrunched up their noses.
Niccolo continued. “Apparently, our modern-day Cesare and Lucrezia are sleeping together as well.”
Everyone – including me – joined the three women in an expression of disgust.
“In this surveillance photograph taken by the Naples police, please note Lucrezia’s oversized sunglasses. The rumor is she wears them at all times in order to cover a hideous disfigurement.
“When she was 17, she supposedly slept with a foot soldier who worked for the Caproni family. Cesare, who was 19 at the time, gouged out her left eye in a fit of jealous rage.
“Lucrezia fared better than the foot soldier. Her brother reportedly tortured him to death.
“Rather than drive them apart, however, Cesare’s brutality seems to have cemented their union even further. Lucrezia reportedly considered her brother’s actions both justified and… ‘romantic.’”
Our looks of disgust turned to disbelief.
“While Lucrezia and Cesare don’t exactly shout their relationship from the rooftops, it’s an open secret among the clans of the Camorra, who regard it as proof of the siblings’ depravity. Which is saying something.
“The Camorra are monsters. About three decades ago, they began supplementing the front lines of their operation with children from the poorest neighborhoods of Naples – boys as young as ten.
Why? Because there was an endless supply, the kids were desperate enough to risk their lives for a few euros – and they were expendable.
“Low-level Camorra soldiers recruit children to be lookouts, then promote them to drug dealers as they get older. The ones that survive are hardened veterans by the time they turn 16. At that point, they’re absorbed into the organization as foot soldiers.
“The kids’ training is for shit, but there’s an unlimited supply, so why stress? If one gets gunned down in a street battle, another ten will take his place.
“The Camorra are like warlords in the most violent regions of Africa. After all, they both employ armies of child-soldiers. So if other Camorra think you’re bad, that’s saying something – and the Caproni siblings are not well-regarded by their fellow gangsters at all.
“In the few short years Cesare and Lucrezia have been in charge, they’ve extended their wealth and power far beyond what their father ever achieved. In the process, though, they’ve made enemies of the other clans, who eventually banded together and threatened to wipe the Caproni siblings out.
“However, Cesare and Lucrezia reportedly cut a deal. In exchange for peace, the two siblings offered to kill Don Amato of the Cosa Nostra.”
Valentino laughed.
Not like it was funny, but like, Yeah, RIGHT.
Dario, Adriano, Roberto, and Massimo did not laugh. They looked uneasy.
Lars and most of the women looked confused.
“Wasn’t Don Amato one of the guys on the Council in Rome?” Lars asked.
“Yes,” Niccolo replied. “Amato is in Naples, and head of one of the powerful Five Families of the Cosa Nostra, which include Rome, Venice, Milan, and Sicily.
“Naples has traditionally been a stronghold for the Camorra, but about 20 years ago, Don Amato moved into Naples. He had backing from the rest of the Cosa Nostra – including from our own family, thanks to Papa and Uncle Fausto.
“The idea was to get a foothold in the lucrative sweatshops on the outskirts of Naples. The Camorra make billions of euros annually on counterfeit designer goods that they sell to the rest of the world. Don Amato figured he could get a piece of the action.
“However, things didn’t quite go as he planned.
“The Camorra fought back – hard. They succeeded in keeping the Amatos out of the sweatshop business, but they were never able to fully eradicate them, due largely to the financial support Don Amato received from the rest of the Cosa Nostra.
“For 20 years, the Camorra and the Amato family engaged in a shadow war. There were long periods of détente, followed by occasional flare-ups and bloodletting. Then the violence would eventually subside, and things would go back to normal.
“But according to the thug that Giorgio captured, the Capronis negotiated a truce with the rest of the Camorra. In exchange for an enduring peace, Cesare and Lucrezia promised to execute the entire Amato family and eliminate the Cosa Nostra in Naples.”
Valentino scoffed. “Those two thought they could pull off what the rest of the Camorra couldn’t in 20 years? Good luck with that.”
“And when were they planning to do it?” Lars asked.
Niccolo looked grim. “According to our unwilling informant… they did it three nights ago.”
Lars looked astonished, as did Valentino.
Niccolo must have already told Don Rosolini, because he didn’t react at all.
The rest of the men in the room had already heard it firsthand from the Camorra thug in the warehouse.
“They killed the Amatos?” Lars asked, stunned.
“That’s impossible,” Valentino exclaimed.
“Not at all,” Niccolo replied. “If you’ll recall, Mezzasalma slaughtered the Agrellas right here in Florence, wiping out their entire organization in one night.”
“But that happened because your uncle betrayed the Agrellas,” Lars objected, “and arranged it so Mezzasalma could murder them.”
“Apparently, the Caproni siblings had been planning it for four years.” Niccolo turned to the television screen and pointed at the surveillance photo of Lucrezia Caproni. “And I’m betting it was mostly her plan.”
“If they killed the Amatos,” Valentino said, “then why haven’t we heard about it?! It should’ve been all over the news!”
“Cesare and his men invaded the compound in the dead of night and killed everyone inside,” Niccolo explained. “Then they occupied the mansion. No one called the police, so no one outside the Caproni clan knows about it yet.”
“How’d they get in?!” Valentino asked.
“Cesare captured Don Amato’s oldest son, Luciano, while he was visiting one of his mistresses.
“At the same time, halfway across town, Cesare’s men raided Luciano’s home and took his wife and children captive.
“Using the family as hostages, the Capronis forced Luciano to sneak them into the Amatos’ compound, where they slaughtered virtually everyone. In fact – ”
Out of nowhere, Alessandra spoke up. She sounded both distressed and cross as she asked, “Why am I here?”
Niccolo looked at her in surprise. “What?”
“I don’t want to hear any of this, but you said it had some sort of bearing on me.” She turned angrily to her husband. “So what is it? Why am I listening to Niccolo go on and on about these monsters and all the horrible things they’ve done?”
When Niccolo spoke again, his voice was gentle. “Because the prisoner we captured said Cesare and Lucrezia didn’t just go after Don Amato because of a deal with the Camorra. They did it because they wanted information… about Dario.”