Chapter 11 Stan
ELEVEN
STAN
With a yawn, I watched as Luc called a meeting of the three families—the Valentinis, the Carusos, and the Brunos—to order at five AM.
The yawn stemmed from not sleeping for the past forty hours but also because this shit looked set to be boring.
Gesù, I hated politics.
Ordinary people had to worry about government shutdowns, while this was my purgatory.
“The Albanians tried to infiltrate our main factory yesterday,” Luc stated as a greeting.
Caruso grimaced. “What the fuck was their game?”
“If we knew that, we wouldn’t be here,” I sniped, running a hand over my hair, grimacing at the water still clinging to it from the shower I’d grabbed at Russu’s after tonight’s particularly messy bout of wet work.
Aurora tutted. “Custanzu.”
“What? I need sleep, which means I need this bullshit to be over with.” They weren’t to know that I intended to sleep on a plane.
Because I’d worked. Now, it was time to play.
Life was for seizing.
And claiming angels.
“While the rest of you were tucked away with your loved ones, sleeping,” I continued, “I was on a construction site replacing Albanian knee joints with air the whole fucking night. Can we get on with this, please?”
My sister’s lips pursed in disapproval. “Debrief then fuck off.”
Content with that payoff, I retorted, “Gladly. Long and the short of it—Albanians came to Russu better armed than a battalion of Marines. Their plan was to cause a disturbance, get taken out and shifted to our nearest site, in this case one of our warehouses on the docks.
“I’d have ordinarily held them there because the mayor might suck your dick, Luc, but he’d get pissy about me smearing Albanians over FDR Drive.
” When my brother snorted, I stated, “I happened to notice they looked too happy about where they were heading, so we diverted to the construction site in Queens.
“With my superb negotiation skills—” That earned me a few laughs as well as an eye-roll from Rory. “—I managed to extract their asinine plan to take over whichever warehouse we transported them to and steal whatever they could get their hands on from our supply of Red.”
“Good catch, frate.”
“It’s why you put up with me,” I said simply, meaning it.
Luc, apparently catching the nuance in my words, frowned before steamrolling over my statement as much as Luigi had the Albanian’s legs earlier tonight. “How did they get into the club?”
My mind drifted to Giuseppe’s screams—he’d only answered that under duress. “As part of a larger VIP group,” I demurred, preferring to bring up that asswipe behind closed doors with my siblings first.
“We need to up security—”
“Already on it, Rory. I’ve conferred with Chad.”
“Good. I’ll speak with him too. See how we can handle more shifts to protect the VIP section.”
“We’ve dealt with the Albanians on an ‘as and when’ basis,” Luc inserted. “But if they’re concocting these more involved plots, their organization isn’t as much of a cowboy setup as we first thought.”
“Meaning they’re not individual gangs but have formed a unit?” Bruno queried.
“I think so, and considering the uptick in their numbers, I figure it’s happening nationally too.”
Luc drummed his fingers on the table. “They confirmed that, Stan?”
I scanned my watch when a notification lit up the screen. “I extracted a name—Agon Prifti.”
“I’ve never heard of him. Any clue who he is?”
“No.”
The others around the table shook their heads, but Aurora scrawled something on a legal pad in front of her. “I’ve heard rumblings. He has a whorehouse in Nolita. But I didn’t think much of it.”
“To organize that ragtag bunch of fuckers, there has to be a leader. Could Prifti be that leader?”
“Doubtful,” Rory disregarded. “The brothel’s pretty high-end but nothing major. Nothing that speaks of a power player or someone funding the regrouping of their organization. We know how costly an endeavor that is.
“Until now, I’ve only seen proof of them acting like two-bit gangsters playing at being mobsters.”
“The Albanians have been causing chaos in Vegas and LA too, right?” I prodded.
“Yes,” she admitted, her frown turning pensive. “Typically, the Albanians form clans and a Krye heads that clan. They, in turn, have underbosses. To form one larger clan is unheard of.”
“Doesn’t mean it can’t happen,” Caruso pointed out.
Flatly, I derided, “I don’t think they’re playing at anything.”
Rory clucked her tongue. In agreement or disagreement was anyone’s guess. “They’ve always been big into horses and race fixing. There’s a lot of money in that.” Mostly to herself, she asked, “Could that fund a movement as big as this one?”
She made a couple notes on her ever-present legal pad then slipped a folder on top of it. Retrieving several sheets of paper from it, she encouraged us to pass them around the table.
Recognizing the first image from the I Told You So blog of Brackton Sr., Devere, and Korhonen with their coterie of escorts, I glanced at the second picture then did a double take. “The girls are dead?!”
Even Luc’s ever-calm expression cracked. “That means all three escorts from the first photograph were taken out.”
“Holy shit,” Bruno rasped. “How did you get these?”
“Someone in my homeless network found the bodies in an alley, just tossed there like trash.” Her hand smoothed over her belly. And I got it. Family was all. That these girls… Cristu. “I had the commissioner deal with the bodies. There’ll be an investigation into their murders.”
Luc’s mouth firmed. “Good.”
“Porca troia.” I studied the GSWs to the temples that had taken out both girls. “They really were kids.”
“Preliminary reports speculate their ages are between thirteen and fifteen,” Rory confirmed grimly. “Once the autopsies are complete, I’ll know for certain.”
Uneasiness hit me. “That brothel of theirs in Nolita…”
“What about it?” Luc rasped—he was a girl dad. Of course, this fucked with his head.
“Look, we all know the Irish plan to infiltrate the White House at one point or another. They might think it’s a big Secret with a capital ‘S’ but it’s not.
I know Clarice told Rory that was what these three sickos discussed that night, but…
could this be what the cover-up’s about?
The age of the hookers the president fraternized with? ”
“Wouldn’t more of his escorts be turning up dead?” Luc reasoned.
“These girls are ghosts.” Rory’s voice ached with the loss of those innocents. “Discardable and easily replaceable. Not like our stable. Our girls know I’d kill for them.”
“Where’s this brothel?” Taking note of the address she reeled off for when I was done this weekend, I yawned. “I’ll have my Stidda scope out the locale. See how high up the ladder Prifti is and what the average age of the hookers they run tends to be.”
As tired as I was, Rory rubbed her eyes. “This is a headache waiting to happen.”
“There’s no territory that hasn’t been claimed on an island this small.” Bruno cracked his knuckles. “They’re looking for war.”
“Hence last night’s mess,” I grouched. “But at least we sent a message.”
“What else did you do?”
“Oh, nothing much, Luc. Sent what was left of one of their soldiers in a trash can and dumped it outside one of their warehouses. My men are recording who comes and goes from there.” I hadn’t intended on discussing this in front of the other families, but if Rory was going to confer with Chad about the club’s security, it’d crop up. “I also took out Giuseppe.”
“What?! Why?”
“Because he was in on their dumb plan. The remaining Messinas in the city are a problem, Luc. The Puglisis too. We can’t trust them. The Albanians knew the back rooms in Russu were full. Tell me how that’s possible unless they stacked them in their favor.”
Everyone shared uneasy looks.
Rory hissed, “The drive-by shooting? That money lender?”
“Seems likely, soru. I imagine they have us under surveillance. Probably via the men we showed mercy to…”
Luc pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fuck.”
“We need to plan how the next couple months are going to pan out,” Rory said into the growing silence.
“Last night’s… what would you call it? Raid?
Speaks of a confidence that’s unheard of.
Hell, it speaks of purposeful antagonism.
They’re baiting the bear. Whether it’s a small-fry operation or a growing faction, we must organize ourselves accordingly and—”
“Can I go now?” My interruption earned me a scowl from Rory and a sigh from Luc. “You guys might treat me like the help, but I’m not actually in service and have other jobs I need to finish before I can crash. This shit’s your bag anyway.”
From out of nowhere, Luc had his switchblade in his hand and he flicked the blade free. “Anyone else and I’d have put this in your thigh.”
“There has to be some perks to being your younger brother. Can’t all be nag, nag, nag...”
“Fuck off.” Rory jabbed her pen at me. “Get some sleep and wake up on the right side of the bed for once. If the Puglisis and Messinas seeding our ranks are dirty, we’ll need your input eventually.”
“I’ll have my Stidda look into it.”
“No. Wait until we have a plan on how to deal with them.”
I pointed to Luc’s knife. “That’s the only language they understand.”
She tsked. “That’s why we need a plan. Never heard of intelligence gathering, frate?”
Getting to my feet, I batted my lashes. “That’s why we have you, darling soru.” Gracing the table with an inverted peace sign, something that rolled over most of their heads and had me muttering, “Americans,” under my breath, I made my departure.
Unlocking my phone, I scanned my emails.
The flight reminder was there—loud and proud.
I should ignore it.
I definitely shouldn’t go to Florida.
Not only because it wasn’t my turf. We had an active situation with the Albanians and had some potential rats in need of exterminating, but…
“Carpe diem.” I cracked my neck to relieve some of the pressure gathered there from the mistake I was in the process of making.
Not that it stopped me from typing in my passport number and downloading my boarding pass...
No way was my angel dealing with a bunch of drunken twenty-year-old college students on her own. Or maniac Russians. Or homicidal Albanians.
She needed my protection.
Yesterday.
And as stressed as I was, and as fucked-up as the night had been, just knowing where I’d be in a couple hours’ time put a spring in my step.
When Chad, who waited outside for Rory, asked, “Everything okay in there, boss?” I shot him a look.
“Where’s Matteo?” Rory’s Camorrista guard.
My poor sister had two on her at all times, one from each faction she served. A fact I knew rubbed her raw.
“In there somewhere.” He shrugged. “I’m not officially on duty. Rowan is.”
Talk about perfect timing, even if he seriously needed to get a life. And if I was saying that, then it had to be true.
“Can you drive me to the airport?”
“We picking someone up?”
“I have to fly out somewhere. Rory will be in the meeting a while longer.”
Because Chad might look like a meathead but had a higher than average IQ, he glanced back at the warehouse where the council had gathered. “No one knows, huh?”
“I’d appreciate it if we kept it that way.”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
As I climbed into the passenger seat, I asked, “You definitely want to stay on my sister’s Stidda? Don’t feel like switching to my team?”
Chad chuckled. “She keeps me plenty busy, but I did have fun last night. Been a long time since I heard an enemy cry like that.”
“Good for the soul.”
“Purges the soul,” he corrected before maneuvering us through the horrendous traffic that’d take us to the airport. “Where are you flying?”
“Will you tell Rory if I let you know?”
“Yes, but it’ll head off the crisis when you go missing without telling anyone you’re leaving the city. They’re more interested in your movements since the… hospital.”
“Fucking pains in my ass. Key West. Shouldn’t be away long enough for it to come to my brother and sister’s attention.”
“Why Key West?”
“This isn’t about work.”
“Belated spring break?”
I barked out a laugh when his lips twitched. “Do I look like a college kid wanting to let loose?”
“I don’t really know, Stan. I’m not sure you’ve ever been the type of kid to let loose, even when you were a teenager.” How little he fucking knew. “But you keep your cards close to your vest. And from one tight-lipped motherfucker to another, that’s not an insult.”
“If they ask, you can tell my siblings that I’ll be back shortly.”
“How shortly?”
Kitty was only supposed to be away for four days…
“Maximum four days.”
“Minimum?”
“I don’t know.”
He tsked. “Font of information.”
“Can you do me another favor?”
“Sure. But they’re adding up.”
“I’m aware. I always pay my debts.”
Good thing too. I now owed Savannah and Chad… Conor should be receiving his body weight in candy corn this morning, so at least he no longer took up space on my list.
“What do you need?”
“Can you contact Star Sullivan on the DL?” I could do it myself, but I’d prefer to owe Chad rather than her. Plus…
His brow furrowed. “You know about our friendship?”
…that.
With rats on the loose, it was wise to make sure everyone knew pest control was sniffing around.
“Of course I do. The fact you’re still alive tells you I trust you.”
My words didn’t reassure him. “Giuseppe was alive until last night.”
“Yes, but Giuseppe was a pezz'i miedda. You, I actually like.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“You’re welcome.”
“What favor did you want?”
“I need her to do something for me.”
“Sure.”
I had no way of knowing, of course, that this would be the start of my mood going to shit…
“I have to make a stop at Van Cleef’s.”
“They won’t be open—”
I huffed out a laugh. “They’ll open for me.”
Carpe diem, baby.