Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
“Sit down,” he said, gesturing to the two seats in front of him.
“Don Gambini.” I tipped my head down to show my respect to him, Slater following suit afterwards.
“Screw the niceties.” He leaned forward. “I know one of you offed Baxter. The question is ‘who.’”
“No.” I shook my head in refusal, maintaining eye contact with him. “With all due respect, the real question is ‘why.’ We’ve known each other a long time, Don Gambini. You know Winslow and Knight, too. You really think we’d take out someone just for kicks?”
“DeLuca, I’ve been a player since before you were born,” he remarked, his voice stiff. “I’ve seen shit you wouldn’t even dream was possible. Try again. And you’d better impress me.”
“Your man was freelancing the night he was killed,” Slater interjected, his voice steady as a rock. “Don Roselli had hired him to blow up The Rusty Bucket as punishment for us casing a bank without telling him. That’s what Baxter said anyway. He’d been lied to, though.”
“That’s right,” I confirmed with a firm nod. “Recently, we found out that Emilio Roselli had an illegitimate daughter, named Maggie Owens. Guess what? She's a barmaid at The Rusty Bucket. She was the real target, because as it turns out, Emilio Roselli wanted the bulk of his money to go to her. Not his son.”
“Hmm…” Gambini mused, lowering his gaze. “I’d be well within my rights to have my men shoot you dead just for saying all this bullshit. I’m sure you know that.”
“Of course we do, sir,” Slater spoke, his voice low but intense. “But it gets worse. Just days ago, Don Roselli ordered us to kill that same woman—his half-sister. And when we didn’t do that immediately, he sent two gunmen to take us out in Napolitana.”
“That’s what that was about?” Gambini arched an eyebrow. “It wasn’t a bad little restaurant.”
“Sir, I don’t think you—”
“I understand the implications, young man. You’re saying Roselli is way out of line.”
“Yeah.” I gave a swift nod. “He put out a hit on his own sister. Don’t you think he should be punished for that?”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
“No,” Slater agreed, looking the older man in the eye. “But it is for you to decide. This isn’t the way we do things.”
“I’ll admit, killing a young woman isn’t ideal.”
“Not just a young woman, Don Gambini,” I said. “His kin. His sister. I thought the organization had some principles.”
“Let me ask you something,” Gambini said, his eyes sharp. “You’ve been in Roselli’s family for what? Fifteen years? When was the last time you heard a Don got whacked for breaking the rules?”
His question had me thinking for several seconds. Slater and I looked at each other, an ugly truth setting in. Judging by my friend’s demeanor, he couldn’t think of an example any more than I could.
“Never,” I murmured, pursing my lips.
“So, you realize the position you’re putting me in,” Gambini went on, bringing his gaze to Slater first, and then, to me.
“He’s dangerous,” Slater said. “When he doesn’t follow the rules, he puts us all at risk.”
“Quit blowing smoke up my ass,” Gambini said.
“Are you saying it’s not true?” I asked.
“Remember who you’re talking to,” Gambini warned.
“I don’t mean it like that,” I said. “I’ve just always heard that protecting your blood relatives comes before anything else. But you’re right, we haven’t been involved as long as you have. So I’m asking you.”
The Don sidestepped my question. “Think of what you’re asking of me,” he said instead. “You come here with some crazy story about Roselli’s bastard daughter without a shred of proof, you admit you took out Baxter, and you want my approval to go after your boss? You boys are either insane or have balls of steel.”
“Or both,” Slater joked, and I elbowed him hard. Now wasn’t the time.
“I realize it’s far-fetched, but…”
“Far-fetched?! That’s an understatement. But if you get me proof—scientific proof—that she’s Roselli’s half-sister, I’ll consider it. But even if I sanction the hit, have you given any thought to how you’d do it? Because he’ll have about two dozen pricks like you guarding him at all times, now that you’ve gone rogue.”
“Gone rogue?” Slater repeated.
Gambini arched an eyebrow. “Well, you’re not at Roselli’s beck and call, and you’re clearly not dead, so what else is he to think?”
“We’ll worry about how to do it when the time comes,” I answered. “If I get you the evidence you need, will you give us the go-ahead?”
“Just run that DNA test, DeLuca,” Gambini said, his voice low and firm. “I’ll think about it.”
“Thank you for your time, Don Gambini,” I said as we rose. The meeting hadn’t gone exactly how I’d expected, but we were walking away unharmed. That was something.
Once we were on the street, I turned to Slater. “Call Julian, catch him up, and have him get a hair from Maggie. Then we’ll get something from Roselli so we can do the DNA test.”