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“…alright,” I agreed.
After all, my don had spoken.
“Excellent.” Dario lifted his head and inhaled deeply. “You’re right – the air smells sweeter as a free man.”
“Just wait till you get home.”
He laughed, then slapped my back again. “Alright… let’s get those first five minutes over with.”
He was talking about the speech I’d given him the day we came to visit, right after his father had died.
“You remember that, huh?”
He smiled. “I’ll never forget it. That was what got me through the last four months.”
126
Iwas a little afraid that ‘one drink’ aboard the plane might become three or four, then turn into days of debauchery – but I sorely underestimated Dario. He drink one glass of champagne on the plane, followed by a celebratory dinner at the house that night. After that, he was 100% business.
Adriano, Massimo, and Valentino wanted to bring in some escorts from Florence, but Dario refused.
“Too dangerous. That would be the easiest way for our enemies to get at us. There will be time for women in the future. For now, we work.”
Dario made good on all his idealistic plans. First, he ordered Niccolo and Roberto to divest the family business of hard drugs like heroin, meth, and cocaine.
“Don’t sell off any inventory we have – just destroy it,” he ordered. “If there’s more in the pipeline, pay the suppliers what we owe them and tell them to keep their product. Take the loss and move on.”
Roberto winced. “We don’t make a lot of money from drugs, but it has a very high profit margin – ”
“I don’t care. We’re no longer involved with that shit.”
“Alright.”
Dario fixed Roberto with a piercing stare. “You always told Papa you could take us legitimate within two years. Was that the truth or an exaggeration?”
Roberto perked up. “The truth. The Hong Kong deal could dwarf everything we’re involved in currently – and it would be 100% legal.”
“Get it moving, then.”
“The only problem is it would require a sizeable investment upfront – ”
“Come back to me with the numbers and we’ll talk,” Dario said. “Now, as for prostitution: I know we’ve been involved in it for decades, and I know it’s a tiny part of the business – but that’s over now, too. Tell the pimps their services are no longer required. Tell them to either find another line of work or get the fuck out of our territory.
“Talk to the women directly. Let them know that if they want to continue on their own, that’s fine, but no pimp will be taking a cut of their wages anymore. However, if the women run into problems – a pimp who threatens them, or a violent john – they can let us know, and we’ll take care of it.”
“So we’re going to perform the duties of a pimp,” Niccolo said sarcastically, “but not get paid for it.”
“No. We’re won’t find customers for the women, and we’re not chasing down non-payers. But if a man becomes violent with them, we’re going to ensure he never hurts a woman again.”
I personally liked hearing that a lot.
“I also want to give them an incentive to quit,” Dario continued, “so offer every woman a one-time payment of 5000 euros if they promise to use the money to start a new life.”
“5000 apiece?!” Roberto asked indignantly. “That could be a million euros – maybe more!”
“Money we took from them over the last few years,” Dario snapped. “Consider it back wages.”
Niccolo looked doubtful. “You realize most of them will say they’re quitting, but they’ll just take the money and keep working the streets.”
