Chapter 23
Jaxon
Carmine Russo lived in a charming mansion just outside New Orleans.
Madisonville was known for great schools, quiet luxury, and Lake Pontchartrain access.
Perfect for his wife and four kids. While he’d made most of his money while being a surgeon, what he’d inherited after Vitelli’s death had been significant.
With Alexander driving, we pulled down his long driveway, two of our men in an SUV following. At this point with being uncertain of Carmine’s plans, we would remain cautious.
Once outside the vehicle, he took the time to button his jacket. At least it was a school day, which meant the kids wouldn’t be around. From what I knew, his wife was a nurse.
“Come on, boy.” I allowed Zorro out and glanced toward the vivid colors crisscrossing the sky. It would be a beautiful evening for a ballet performance.
Woof.
“Has he met Indiana Jones yet?” Alexander asked as we walked toward the door.
Indiana had come as a package deal with my brother’s wife Josette, the Golden-Great Pyrenees mix one special pooch.
“Not yet. I was thinking this weekend.”
“I guess now everyone will be getting a dog.”
I laughed. “Why not? They are part of the family.”
“Wait until you have a kid.”
“Cart before the horse, brother. I’m not married yet.”
Alexander grinned. “Not yet.”
Carmine’s housekeeper opened the door, immediately recognizing us. She dropped her gaze to Zorro, who was swishing his tail back and forth.
“We’re here to see Carmine.”
“Si, Senor Prince. I’ll let him know you’re both here.”
We didn’t need to rehearse what we had to say.
We’d done this shit before a number of times.
In our earlier meeting, we’d laid out instructions for our men regarding the warehouses, what to look for with drugs and to keep an eye on both the Russo family and the Russians.
I was beginning to think we’d never be in long term peace.
After the housekeeper’s footsteps faded, the quiet was almost depressing. No music. No sound of any life whatsoever. Maybe that’s why I opened my damn mouth.
“I talked with Anastasia.”
“Yeah?” he asked while still scanning the man’s impressive marble entrance foyer.
“Yep, I told her about Rose.”
That caught my brother off guard. He turned to face me, narrowing his eyes. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. I’m not.” I happened to notice there’d been some serious renovations on the house since the first and only time we’d been invited into the man’s home. That had been after his father’s death a couple of years before.
“A pet and now a person. Who are you? Wasn’t it a day ago you were certain this woman was working with Russo?”
“Yeah. So what?”
“So what’s changed?”
“I think she’s being used. In fact, I believe there are plans for her to marry one of the other Italian families.” I stroked Zorro’s back, enjoying my brother’s reaction. He was genuinely surprised at the changes in me.
He narrowed his eyes as if I was telling him about some romance book I’d just read. “That sounds plausible except she refuses to share with you which family she’s from. If you’re even correct about your assumptions.”
“I’m correct. I trust my instincts.”
He shook his head, studying me more intently than he’d done in a long time. No, since the first night he’d bailed me out of jail after almost killing the kid. “You’re in love with her.”
“I can’t say what we share is love. Call it passion on steroids.”
His smile was followed by a laugh. “Similar to the way I felt with Catherine. I’m glad to see you in the land of the living, but I’ll give you the same piece of advice you gave me. Tread carefully. Playing politics with emotions isn’t necessarily the best thing to do.”
“Maybe not, but I feel alive again.” We both heard footsteps, which was why he lowered his voice.
“What are you thinking of doing?”
“Getting married.”
Before he had time to rebut what I’d suggested, Carmine appeared. To say the man was nervous was an understatement.
“Alexander. Jaxon.”
“Carmine,” Alexander told him. “I’m sorry to interrupt your day off but you chose to ignore my calls. Unacceptable.”
Zorro was instantly on edge, which meant Carmine was exactly the man I believed him to be.
Unreliable and a liar.
“I was busy saving lives while you were doing the opposite. I understand you believe we have an issue to discuss,” Carmine spit out.
He was staring at me, obviously realizing I’d been the one to bring him dead bodies. I resisted reacting. For now.
“Why don’t we go into my den to chat.” He led us through the house and into a room that appeared like a glorified man cave, closing the doors behind us. What I noticed first was the weapon placed on a long walnut bar.
He’d prepared. How thoughtful.
“Drink?” he asked, already pulling down glasses. In doing so, I noticed his hand was shaking.
Not good for a surgeon.
“Why not. Scotch.” Alexander sat down in one of the massive leather chairs, acting as if he was completely comfortable.
“Scotch it is. How’s my sister? Isn’t she about due? Another baby in the family.”
“We’re not family,” I told him, but Carmine chose to ignore my comment.
Alexander laughed. “Yes, she is, but she is still demanding to work a full day in the courts. You know her. She refuses to allow anyone to threaten our family.”
Carmine paled. “I don’t know what you think is happening, Alexander, but I did not break our alliance. Why would I do that?”
“I can think of a dozen reasons including whatever the hell is going on in Italy.” I continued stroking Zorro, but my pup’s hackles were definitely raised.
My statement obviously threw him. He slowly turned with the bottle of Macallan in his still shaking hand. His pinched face said everything along with his silence.
We allowed him to finish preparing the drinks, accepting as gentlemen should do.
He was pained as he sat down, leaning forward in the seat. “You know Sergio and I have never gotten along.”
“What did he do?” Alexander asked.
“I don’t know this for certain, but I think the Russians recruited him. He’s been acting weird for weeks. I don’t know him any longer.”
“Are you talking about the Barishnikoff family?” His proclamation did surprise me at least to a point. If the issue with the drugs was a local situation, then it would make perfectly good sense, but I had a feeling this was a global affair.
The damage we’d done to the Bratva family and the holdings made it next to impossible for them to be of any real threat to us. Although Russians were Russians and would always find a way to retaliate. That’s why we kept close tabs on them. But close enough?
Unless he wasn’t talking about the American Bratva.
He laughed. “They’re pussycats in comparison to the bastards out of Moscow.”
“The Ivanov family.” Alexander glanced in my direction.
We’d heard about them before. Their reputation was as savages, their lineage going back for several generations.
They all but ran Russia, using the prison systems to build their rank of soldiers and occasionally invaded either the Netherlands, Poland, or Eastern Europe, trying to glean more territory for their illegal drugs and weapons.
“Where did you hear this?” I pressed.
He took a long swallow of his drink. “You’re aware my father breached trust with our family in Italy.
After his death, I reached out to my cousin.
As kids we used to talk against my father’s wishes.
He mentioned a few months ago he thought something was going down, an unholy alliance the Ivanovs tried to put together years ago.
He also mentioned there was some concern about the Camorra coming back into the picture. ”
“The Camorra?” Alexander asked.
“Yes.” Carmine didn’t seem so certain. The group was from Naples, once truly the most powerful crime syndicate in the world.
I took a deep breath, my thoughts drifting to Anastasia. “With one of the Five Families.”
Carmine nodded, studying me. “Yeah. I think they might have approached more than one family, although my uncle had no intention of talking about the situation. My cousin just said there was unrest, not only among the Five Families but also with other crime syndicates in Europe.”
“An alliance of that nature would provide Russian muscle for one Italian family to destroy the concept of the Five Families altogether.”
“Yes, and imagine the imbalance of power. One reason I never wanted to be a part of this fucking life,” Carmine hissed.
“But Sergio always did,” Alexander offered.
“Sergio would love nothing more than to move to Italy and be a part of the life. This side of the Russo family is tarnished. No one would want him.”
“But the Russians might.” I shook my head. “When did you realize Sergio might be an issue?”
“A few days ago. Maybe you don’t realize just how ruthless the Camorra is in relation to the Five Families.
I didn’t understand the difference until a couple weeks ago when my cousin explained it.
The people of the Camorra are even more powerful.
They were thought to be exiled from Naples, a dead syndicate if you will. ”
A few days ago. About the time Anastasia came to New Orleans. The timing was tight, maybe too much so, but worth investigating.
“Who’ve been involved in a quiet revolution over the past few years.” Alexander sighed and I could tell he’d heard about the situation. Given it was thousands of miles away, the power struggle shouldn’t affect our world.
Unless there were ulterior motives, greed the determining factor.
Carmine was clearly agitated, uncertain how to handle the situation.
He wasn’t equipped to be the leader of the Russo Cosa Nostra in any country.
But his roots and the legacy of his family went deep, perhaps more so than ours.
“Imagine if there was a way for the Five Families to take control, able to destroy the Camorra altogether,” he tossed out.
“They’d need muscle, such as the Bratva.” The light was beginning to dawn on the seriousness of the situation.