4. Santino
SANTINO
I’m in one of my warehouses by the ocean where no bodies can be found. To the public, it’s a shipping and receiving center, but the truth is, this is where I bring everyone who has turned their backs on the oath they took when they pledged their loyalty to me.
For instance, one of my pushers on the street, Mark, told a cop where he got the drugs to sell.
Luckily, the cop is on my payroll. I have my hand in many many cookie jars in this city.
All the important people, the governors, the senators, the cops, I pay them very well to turn their heads.
I have a business to run and a city to regulate.
My business pushes so much money into the economy here. I do good things as well as bad, can’t have one without the other in my opinion.
Omar, my youngest son, punches Mark in the face again. His eye is swollen shut and has a fat lip. Lorenzo, my head of security, places the stun baton against Mark’s ribs, sending electrical currents through his system.
I roll my sleeves to my elbows, showing expensive artwork. “Enough,” I order them.
They take a step away.
Omar is good at this job. Unlike his brother, he has his head on straight. He knows what he wants. Luca is supposed to take my spot in a few years, but I don’t think he’s meant for a position like this. Running an entire organization takes a level head and Luca is too much of an uncertainty.
And he might very well lose his place to Omar at this rate.
Regardless, Mark was one of my top pushers. I’ve never had a problem with him, but something made him flip and I want to know what it was. No one crosses me and lives to tell the tale.
No one.
I take out a cigarette and light it, blowing the cloud in Mark’s face. His sweaty blond hair is messy and stained with blood. Omar’s knuckles are proof of the damage done. They are red, the skin busted and angry.
“He hasn’t spoken a word, Mr. Salvati,” Lorenzo announces, standing stoic with his hands clasped together next to Omar who wipes his mouth and begins to pace like a caged animal waiting to pounce.
“I see,” I say, calm and unbothered. “Mark, Mark, Mark,” I sigh.
“I’m so disappointed in you. I was good to you, right?
I paid you well. I even paid for your daughter’s private school, and this is how you thank me?
You put a knife in my back?” I tsk. “That was a mistake.” I grip him by the roots of his hair and yank his head back, puffing another drag.
“Tell me who you decided to pledge your loyalty to.”
“They’ll kill me,” he admits, his entire body shaking. “I had to. They threatened my family. I couldn’t?—”
He screams when I put the cigarette out on his lip, the flesh burning, smoke billowing like chimney on a cold winter day.
“I don’t give a fuck. You come to me. I would have done something. I could have kept you safe and your family, but instead of trusting me, you turn your back on me. I can’t have that, Mark.”
“Please,” he mumbles through his burned bottom lip. “I’ll do anything. Anything, Mr. Salvati.”
I light another cigarette, having no care in the world about his pleas to live. The moment Omar captured him; he was a dead man.
“Oh? Anything? Like what? What could you possible do for me now? I can’t trust you.”
“You can. You can. I… I will tell you who paid me and threatened my family. If I tell you, you can trust me because I won’t do it again.”
I tilt my head in disbelief, knowing once a person lies, they always lie. It’s just human nature to want to protect yourself. I understand.
But I do not forgive.
“I don’t care if you will never do it again. The issue is, your word means nothing now. Which means you mean nothing.” I open his mouth, pinch his tongue, and pull it out.
My wicked ways get the best of me, and I put out my cigarette in the middle of his tongue, his screams pathetic and loud.
“You don’t deserve to speak,” I spit. “Kill him. Dump his body for the sharks. Take him out a ways. I want it to be awhile before his body is found.”
“No! No. No. Please,” He tries to say through a swollen tongue.
I turn my back and walk away. Do I like being ruthless?
No. His family will receive payment, so they don’t struggle.
I’ll never leave anyone out to dry when something isn’t their fault.
Mistakes can’t be made in this business.
Trust is earned but loyalty is immediate when someone agrees to work for me.
My phone buzzes from Terrance, Lorenzo’s second.
“What?” I answer just as the gunshot shakes the air.
I open the door, the salt from the ocean relaxing me as soon as I inhale. The seagulls chirp and fly over my head. My driver steps out of the vehicle and opens the back door for me.
“You have another delivery, Mr. Salvati.”
“What is it?”
“Flowers, Mr. Salvati.”
My heart skips and I don’t know if I like it.
I don’t know who they are from or why. I shouldn’t trust this delivery.
I should find the courier to get answers to see who is fucking with me.
If I’m honest, I don’t want the attention to stop.
Even if it all pans out to be a joke, which if it is, I’ll kill whoever is behind it, but for now, I like the idea of someone wanting to impress me.
I’m not easily impressed.
“I’m on my way. Place them in my office. Don’t touch them. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” I hang up the phone before Terrance can mutter another word.
“Bianchi.”
I pause before getting into the car, turning my head to my shoulder. “What?” I hiss.
“Mark. That’s the name he gave before we shot him in the head,” Lorenzo says while buttoning his blazer to hide the firearm tucked in his holster. “What do you want me to do? We can plan to retaliate.”
I look up to the sky, the warm sun shining down on my face in hopes it will melt away my irritation. “No. No plans yet. I want to know what his next move will be. Let’s wait.” The leather seats are warm, heating my skin under my suit.
All I want is to go home and see what flowers are waiting for me.
“Yes, sir. I will just stick to surveillance and gather all the information I can.”
“Excellent.” I snag a bottle of water from the small bar to the right and twist off the cap, excited about heading home knowing there is something waiting for me.
I’m not sure why these flower deliveries are making me feel giddy like a teenage boy getting ready to go on his first date.
If I find out they are a distraction from Bianchi, which I couldn’t even fault him for because it’s a solid plan to get to your enemy, then, I’m going to bring down his entire organization.
No more allies, no more fake friendships.
I’ll take his territory and product for myself and grow.
I begin to laugh and Lorenzo eyes me curiously.
“He’s getting a feel for how loyal my people are, and is crazy to think he could topple my empire from the ground up.” He’s doing exactly what any one of us would do. He’s trying to expand.
He got lucky with Mark. Bianchi picked a weaker link in my organization.
A brief idea of calling a meeting with all my workers comes to mind, but if I warned them, a few of them might turn on me.
What I should do is infiltrate Bianchi’s men with a spy to get the information I need.
That would need to happen with someone I trust. And that’s the hardest part.
I trust no one.
Everyone, through my eyes, are imperfect people trying to survive and they will do or say anything to make sure they live to see another day.
“I can take care of Bianchi for you in one night, Mr. Salvati. From three hundred yards away. He will never know.” Lorenzo doesn’t look up from his phone as he drops that bomb of information.
“No, I don’t want to cause a wide-open war. I want information first. If we kill him, it might be obvious it was me. We play this silently and smart.”
Lorenzo gives me a curt nod. “Yes, sir. Omar and I will drive the boat out to sea to drop the body. We’ll be back at the estate in a few hours. I will keep you updated.” He shuts the door, finally leaving me alone, and the driver pulls out of the warehouse parking lot to start the drive home.
Being alone with my thoughts is dangerous. I watch the ocean pass us by and listen to the lull of the tires humming as we chase pavement. My mind drifts to Jovie, the last place it needs to be drifting. I’m worried about her. I wonder how she’s doing since my son made the worst mistake of his life.
And I’m not talking about having a baby.
Children are a wonderful addition to the world.
Having children with the right partner is what matters most. It’s the children who have to deal with their parents growing up and a Salvati/Bianchi child would be a horrible position to be in.
It wouldn’t be fair. I’m relieved Luca’s fling isn’t pregnant.
I can’t imagine the chaos it would have caused.
Still, I wonder if anyone has bothered to ask her how she is doing. Selfishly, I want to see her. I want to know if the moment we had in the café was real or just that—a moment. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I press the button to the side of the window to speak to my driver. “Take us to Morgan’s Flower Shop.” My hand freezes mid-air before it drops to my lap, an idea forming that can’t be.
What if it is Jovie sending me flowers?
No, no. Why would she do that? She doesn’t know where I live, and she doesn’t know me at all except for the brief encounter. If Jovie wanted to connect with me that badly, she knows where to find me.
“Right away, Mr. Salvati,” Sam, my driver, responds.
The ride to her shop is quick. She’s actually in my territory which means she’s officially protected by the Salvati’s. I’m sure Luca didn’t even offer that level of protection. My son is thoughtless and selfish.
But I push that away.