Five
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting the summons.
Since the Viper was found dead; shot in his own quarters, with Maricela unconscious beside him, but no sign of a gun, I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Or more accurately, an anvil - square on top of my head. I’ve always known the finger would first be pointed at me. And since I was on my way to do the deed, no matter that someone beat me to it, I can’t see any way out of the consequences.
It’s more of a surprise that Dominic’s been hauled up with me, and that the summons came from Mika and not Don Salvatore himself.
"Gentlemen, I'm sure you can guess why you're here. Is there anything you’d like to say before we start?"
I look between Dominic and Mika, my loyalties conflicted for maybe the first time. In the end, Dominic saves me from having to make the choice of throwing him under the bus.
"I’m sure you know by now that I went into Vito’s suite shortly after I contacted you,” he states. “Since I know there aren’t any cameras inside the room, all I can give you is my word that I didn’t actually shoot him.”
I stare at him in surprise, and unfamiliar gratitude fills me that I don’t need to feel like I’ve betrayed either of these men I respect so much.
“I bumped into Kaiden on the way back to my room and stopped him from going to report to Vito, so he didn’t get caught there himself.
Then I asked him to send a text asking one of Vito’s goons to deliver the evening update, so neither of us were in the frame, but I didn’t actually tell him what was going on. ”
“Is that accurate, Kaiden?” Mika’s eyes bore into me.
“Pretty much,” I agree. “Dominic was covered in blood and told me I needed to trust him. When I asked him why he wouldn’t tell me what was going on, he told me I needed plausible deniability… I guess I understand why, now.”
“And yet you didn’t think to bring any of this to me.”
Okay, so maybe I’m not entirely off the hook. All I can do is be honest… well, up to a point, anyway. “However I felt about Vito, his death was still a shock,” I tell Mika, my eyes never wavering from his face. “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t do a couple of mental fist pumps after the fact.”
He stares at me for long seconds, as if trying to gauge my sincerity. “Since then, I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop, if I’m honest, and expecting to wake up dead.”
Mika cocks an eyebrow but says nothing. “In the end, Dominic did me a solid when he stopped me from walking in on the scene. And since he had my back, I had his in return. No matter what you might think after our last little ‘chat’,...” I refer to a recent incident where I was taken to a warehouse with Tomaso, one of Vito’s loyals, because of my involvement in bringing Roisin Maguire here.
“I’m not in the business of ratting out my…
colleagues, unless there’s a fucking good reason. ”
“And you didn’t think Vito’s death was a good enough reason?” Mika asks, his eyes narrowing to slits.
“Dominic said he didn’t do it. If I can’t trust the word of the people I work with, then there’s nothing for me in this place.” I can’t keep the venom out of my voice, but it’s not like they don’t know I never chose to be here.
Finally, Mika gives a slow nod. “Good.”
I have no idea how to take that.
Mika and Ares stare at Dominic and me with inscrutable expressions, and a slew of regrets tumble through my mind, when I accept these could be my final few breaths.
All of them involve Aspen.
But there’s nothing I can change now, so I close my eyes and wait for the inevitable.
I open them with a start at Mika’s laugh, then look at Dominic. He seems as confused as I am.
“Okay, guys, you’re clear,” Mika finally says with a shit-eating grin on his face. “And for the record, from now on, the pair of you will be on my personal payroll. Understand?”
I blink, completely nonplussed, unable to remember when anything has shocked me more. I’ll be paid? Made a proper member of La Cosa Nostra… I’ve never even imagined such a scenario. I gave up on dreams when I lost Aspen.
“What?” Mika asks, catching my expression, but all I can do is shake my head.
“Kaiden, we’ve just established that we have each other's backs, so what is it?”
"How much will I be paid?” It’s a lame question which has all of them frowning at me.
“The standard emolument for your rank,” Mika replies, tapping away on the laptop in front of him.
“I don’t have a rank,” I reply, trying my best to keep it together as the familiar shame and fury wash through me.
Mika’s frown deepens as he stares at whatever is displayed on his screen before he turns to me in confusion. “Were you paid from Vito’s personal payroll?” he eventually asks, hitting a few more keys and shaking his head as Ares leans in to check whatever it is they’re both looking at.
“No.”
“I don’t understand. How were you paid then?”
I press my lips together, trying and failing to keep the bitterness out of my voice. “I wasn’t.”
They all stare like they can’t understand what I’m talking about. As if I’m speaking Japanese or something. “Are you forgetting that I was drafted into this organization to pay my father’s debt? Why the hell would Vito bother to pay a slave?”
There’s a pregnant silence for several long moments.
“What the hell did you live on?” Dominic blurts out.
I glance his way and shrug. “I live here, I’m fed here. If I need transport for a job, it’s provided.”
“And what about other stuff?” Mika presses.
“Vito outfitted me with two suits and a phone so he could ensure I was at his beck and call. If I needed anything else, he would usually insist on making me beg for a cash job. Literally. Then he’d find the filthiest, riskiest one he could come up with.”
“Why the hell didn’t you say something?” Mika asks, his expression appalled.
“What, and give everyone more reason to believe it was me who offed him? Believe me, I might not have done it, but I damn well thought about it, and it sure as hell doesn’t surprise me.
Vito pissed off most of the people he came into contact with, so I knew this would happen one day, and I’m well aware I have more motive than most to want to see him gone. ”
I shake my head, biting my lip against incriminating myself. I’ve already said too much. “No, I just kept my head down, did as I was told and tried to keep out of the firing line. That bastard’s as much as anyone else’s.”
Mika sighs and, just for a second, appears unusually tired. Then I blink, and he’s all business again.
“Well, from now on, you’ll be paid commensurate with a soldier holding as many years’ experience as you have, so the highest tier, and I’ll make sure you’re in the running for the next capo position that becomes available.”
I still haven’t gotten my head around it all when Mika calls me back a week later. “I’ve given a lot of thought to your position,” he says, passing an envelope across the table and looking at me expectantly until I open it.
I stare at the card and statement inside, unable to make sense of what he’s given me. My name is on everything, but the figures don’t add up, and I have to count the zeros more than once.
“There’s been a mistake here,” I finally tell him, my voice a little shaky. “There’s over two million dollars in this account.”
Mika simply nods. “That’s correct.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”
I really don’t.
“I’ve estimated - and it’s a pretty conservative estimate - that’s the minimum of what you would have earned in the seven years you’ve been an adult member of La Cosa Nostra.”
I frown. “But I’ve never been a true member. My father owed money, and I was to work it off.”
“And you worked it off ten times over before you even hit eighteen,” Mika says, pinning me with an intense gaze.
“As a matter of honor, I’ll let that stand, even though my uncle was in the wrong and took more from you than he ever should have.
However, in the years since then, even a mediocre soldier would have earned $100,000 a year. And you were never a mediocre soldier.”
“I was never a soldier at all,” I point out, all kinds of uncomfortable with this surreal conversation.
“But you should have been.” Mika’s tone brooks no argument. “And we both know you’ve been doing the work of both a capo and an enforcer for years. If I’m honest, I should be giving you more, but this is what I can provide without my father intervening.”
Mika may be the heir apparent, but there’s no love lost between him and Don Salvatore, though I doubt many people would notice, unless, like me, they’re overly alert to their surroundings.
I’m at a loss for words, my mouth opening and closing, but nothing coming out. I feel all choked up, and I guess Mika knows it because he saves me from the awkward moment by continuing.
“Like I said, I’ve given this a lot of thought.
I know I said I’d make sure you were in the running for the next capo position to become available, but with Vito gone, we’re in a unique situation.
We’ve been keeping his death quiet, but we still need a smooth transition into alternative leadership, for the sake of the syndicate. ”
He drums his fingers on the table and looks at me. “From this point on, you are officially a caporegime under my direct jurisdiction, and you will be responsible for the soldiers we’ve retained who were previously part of Vito’s crew.”
I’m loath to voice dissent; it’s not my place to refuse the underboss. And also… capo? I know what he promised, but it’s beyond my wildest dreams. Still, some things need to be said, regardless. “Do you think that’s wise?”
He raises an eyebrow, and I hurry on. “Vito never treated me with any respect. These men know that. I’m not sure I’m the best-placed person to lead them…
and what about Franco?” Surely Don Salvatore’s brother-in-law - his second, well, only consigliere now Vito is gone - would be the obvious choice.
“On the contrary, it makes you the best person to lead them.”