It’s Dante who speaks up next, a smirk already on his face. “Is this the timeframe you expect us to give you, Teo?”
I smirk back. “Of course not.”
“You want longer?” Alessandro sneers.
“No,” I reply as I open my laptop and hit send. “I won’t need any time at all.”
A chorus of pings and vibrations reverberates through the room as everyone checks their phones, tablets, and laptops.
I watch in satisfaction as each person reads the message with increasing disbelief.
“What you have just received is a thirty-five-page document on the first phase of our new trajectory,” I declare.
“To dismantle Giuliano Moretti’s list,” Marco finishes for me, eyes wide as he scans through the document himself.
I nod. “The list has put constraints on our operations for too long. As of today, our first priority is to undo the damage that has been done.”
“The old guard won’t agree to this,” Alessandro mutters, having finally lifted his head up from the table. “They’ve benefitted from the list too much.”
“The old guard is no longer protected by the list,” I say. “Today, they will all be retired.”
“Including me?” Marco asks, and the tension in the room immediately rises.
I regard him for a moment. “Would you say you’ve benefited from Giuliano Moretti’s protection?”
“I’d forsake that if it means we can burn that damn list to ash.”
I smile, and the room lets out a collective breath. “Second order of business: Amos Rubio and the cartel can no longer trade on Guild territory. Including the Electrix club on fifth.”
Someone actually laughs at this, followed by something that sounds suspiciously like “fucking finally”.
“Third, Oswald, I need you to contact demolition. I want the Electrixgone in a fortnight. The Candelabrawill act as the official front for the Guild as of today.”
The shadiest club this side of the East River was a perpetual thorn in the Guild’s side. It was our biggest moneymaker by a long stretch, but also a cesspool of leaks and under-the-table business that we had never been able to control.
As far as I’m aware, none of the inner circle use it as a base of operations, choosing instead to conduct their business in the esteemed music lounge, the Candelabra.
The Electrixis just a liability. A few drunk grunts give away secrets they shouldn’t know, and our enemies get the upper hand. It’s happened more times than any of us would care to admit.
“That’s all well and good, Teo. But where is our capital coming from?”
I look over at Marco. “What’s the status of the property Rocco purchased?”
“He signed the paperwork before he left. Still under construction, but the architect has finished the legwork,” Marco replies dutifully. “A new club could be completed before the end of the year.”
“Scrap the club. We’re building a casino.”
You could hear a pin drop in the aftermath of my statement.
“Boss, the Prince’s Hand?—”
“Are no longer allies of the Guild,” I declare. “For too long, they have monopolized the market, and we have enough real estate in Brooklyn to be a serious competitor.”
“You’re going to antagonize them,” Dante comments. It’s more of a gleeful observation than a warning of any kind.
I smirk back. “I want Ida Natali’s head on a pike.”
“She hasn’t been seen since her husband’s funeral,” someone points out, head buried in their laptop. “Our last contact withthe Prince’s Hand was a few months ago. We let Leon Natali, the new don, use our docks for something he was importing.”
