AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I know I’m in the Cosa Nostra, but I’m ordinarily a patient man with a pleasant demeanor.
When you walk through the world at 6’7” and 270 pounds, your very presence tends to make a lot of people afraid. Especially women.
So I had learned to be gentle…
Polite…
Quiet.
Which fits my natural temperament. I’m ordinarily very even-keeled.
Until people start shooting at me, that is.
Most of the time, the only person who really gets under my skin is my brother Adriano. He’s my polar opposite: a hothead who spouts off at the mouth before he thinks.
He’s got a good heart – but he also has a natural talent for pissing me off. Always has, ever since we were little kids.
Dario, I’m cool with.
Niccolo and Roberto, no problem.
Valentino’s like a puppy dog.
Temperamentally, Lars is a lot like me. We get along great.
But Adriano…
Ever since I can remember, he’s been pissing me off.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve wanted to kill him.
If we’re talking about just getting angry at him, it numbers in the thousands. Maybe the tens of thousands.
So when Roderigo started acting like a dick, he didn’t realize I’d already grown up with a world-class asshole. Adriano had trained me in the art of keeping my cool.
It was like having Mike Tyson as a sparring partner in boxing: yes, he might have beat my ass up on a regular basis –
But with everybody else, I was a Zen fuckin’ master.
So I kept calm as I replied, “I need you to double the speed, now.”
Roderigo spoke to me like I was a not-so-bright ten-year-old. “If the cops flag us down, we’re going to lose more time than it’s worth – ”
“Which is why, if the cops flag you down, you’re not going to stop.”
“This boat can’t outrun them!” he said, like the idea was preposterous.
“You don’t have to outrun them – you just have to get me close to the university. Then you can stay with the boat and let the cops write you a ticket while the rest of us go get the granddaughter.”
“But – ”
“Why don’t we call your boss and see what she says?” I asked pleasantly.
That had the desired effect.
Maybe the Widow had been right about shooting Giotto and – what had she called it? – setting a ‘fearsome example.’
Roderigo had had a front-row seat, after all.
