CHAPTER 61 - RED
CHAPTER
Red
“FUCK!” OSCAR CRIES. “I never thought he’d actually do it, but he has. It’s here. Look!” He slaps the paper on my desk, the article in question taking up half a page.
New Future For The Galvatore Empire
After yesterday’s sad announcement of the death of his eldest son, in an unprecedented move, Emiliano Galvatore has handed control of his empire to eldest daughter, Arianna. This is a decision that may shock many involved in old traditional businesses.
As of today, 29 November, Mr Galvatore has officially stepped down from his long-standing position as head of his empire and handed the title to Arianna.
This raises a lot of questions within the business. Aside from giving control to a woman - something rarely done in Italian culture - the Galvatore empire has a longstanding feud with a rival firm owned by Redmond Bateman, who is also Arianna’s second husband.
The article goes on, but I’m fixated by the photos included with the story: one of me and Arianna, the other of Emiliano and Matteo, but aside from the shit choice of photo they’ve picked of me, this is good news.
“Yep,” I mutter. “He’s made the handover official.
” And I wasn’t sure Emiliano Galvatore would do it either.
“Now we’ll have more men to deal with rooting out Bristoni and the people he’s got onside. We know there are others because who else would clear Carnforth House up and return Matteo’s body?”
“These Galvatore men...” Oscar frowns. “What makes you think they’ll work for us? How the hell are we supposed to trust them? We’re their enemy!”
“I had exactly the same conversation with Arianna,” I admit. “She’ll brief them and give them the choice to remain with her, which also includes us. Or not.”
“Oh, come on!” Liam bangs his fists on the desk, irritating me before he says another word. “How the fuck will Arianna convince those men? They’ve spent the last God knows how long trying to fuck us up.”
“You forget that she’s more capable than you think - than any of us thought. She’ll do it, and you’ll accept these men on side.”
Shaking his head, Liam rolls his eyes and looks away.
It’s my turn to slam my fist on my desk, connecting with it so hard that my pen flips off to land on the floor. “We need those additional men, and if they prove loyal to us, we treat them as our own.”
“Yeah? And how do we do that?” Liam mutters. “Tick off the ones that don’t shoot us during meetings?”
Keeping my eyes on Liam, I wait to see if he has anything else to add to his tantrum. I light a cigarette and blow the smoke towards him. “They can prove their allegiance by hunting down their old teammates who jumped ship and fucking kill them.”
Liam considers this option while Oscar chews the end of his pen.
“You reckon the ones who jumped ship were supportive of Matteo, and so therefore, now Luca?”
“That’s what we need to know.” I crack my knuckles, my stress levels rising thinking about what this means. “Luca is regrouping somewhere, and it’s feasible he’s doing so with ex-Emiliano men. I want to know where they are and wipe them off the face of the earth.”
“When is Arianna speaking to her new ‘workforce’?”
Liam’s not entirely convinced, but he can see the benefit of this working out the way I hope. “She’s meeting them later today.”
With a tap on my office door, I look up. “Yes?”
Cal walks in with a rare look of worry on his usually stolid face. “There’s someone in reception asking for you.”
“Who is it? I’m not expecting visitors. It’s not the press, is it? I could do without them sticking their beaks in.”
“No, it’s not them. It’s Vezzozi.”
Liam and Oscar sit forward as well as me.
“Vezzozi?” Liam snarls. “Dario Vezzozi? What the fuck does he want?”
Oscar gets to his feet. “We’ll deal with the cheeky cunt.”
Standing up, I gesture for my brothers to sit back down, my brain ticking over at a thousand knots. Dario Vezzozi is one of Matteo’s men and the one spotted driving away from here after delivering Matteo’s wedding invitation and note a week ago. “What did he say?”
“Not a lot.” Cal shifts his bulk, filling out the remaining space in this office. “Just that he needs to speak to you. He’s got information he believes you need to know. He’d say nothing more.”
“You’re never going to go and speak to him? Just shoot the bastard!” Liam’s fingers twitch at the prospect of unloading his gun into someone else connected with Matteo Galvatore. “You said to take down all associates, so let’s take the cunt down.”
“I’ll hear what he’s got to say first.” I snatch my jacket off the back of my chair and shove my way between the big men crowding my space. “If I don’t like what he says, then I’ll shoot him. Where is he?”
“In the cleaning store with two guards,” Cal says. “He’s unarmed, though. I checked.”
Nodding, I walk from my office towards the storeroom, pushing my gun into my waistband. Unarmed Dario Vezzozi may be, but I’m done with giving anyone connected to Matteo Galvatore the benefit of the doubt.
Vezzozi needs to hope that whatever he reckons is so important for me to know, actually is, otherwise he’ll be joining his boss in a fucking metal chest.