I take a seat at the end of the table and wait for the rest of the men to filter in. Most greet me with a tight nod as they enter.
Many of my men are from the old guard, left over from when my father and mother were running the Prince’s Hand, too set in their ways now to break away from me despite the looming alliance with a rival mafioso.
Most have now, thankfully, conceded on the merits of said alliance, but it’s still a relief when Maximilian shows up. The younger man throws me a half-hearted salute as he sits at the other end of the table.
He’s fresh blood courtesy of my relationship with the Californians. Max has added a sense of…relevance to the upper rankings of the Prince’s Hand that has been sorely missing. His competency has been an added bonus these last few months.
Once everyone finally settles in, Dante is practically bouncing in his seat.
I sigh and hold him off with a gesture of my hand. “Before we begin, I want a report on the Cartel bombings.”
It’s been a growing concern these last few weeks. Small bombs had been placed near the homes of various known lieutenants, and from Teo’s reports, they were targeting the Guild, too.
That threat is one of the other reasons I’d decided to relocate.
Max clears his throat to address the room. “Lab results are back. It was hydrogen, as we expected. But whoever is making them for the Cartel is barely giving them enough kick to take down a car, let alone a building.”
“Would it be possible if they planted multiple of the devices?”
“Possibly, but it would be incredibly inefficient. Why place ten small bombs when you could plant one big one? But nothingabout the pattern of attacks suggests they’re even entertaining the idea of anything bigger.”
Dante considers this a moment. “So this is a scare tactic.”
“Or they have a limited supply of materials,” Max offers. “We know the Cartel doesn’t have the same relationship with local authorities that we do. Trying to secure destructive materials could prove more difficult for them without raising legal suspicion.”
Something about the way Max phrased that made my mind jump five theories ahead. “Unless they’re trying to provoke us to retaliate in kind. I imagine it’s easier to steal materials that have already been stolen from someone else.”
Max immediately nods in understanding. He was good like that.
“Sorry, what?” Dante looks at me in confusion.
Max does the courtesy of explaining. “It would be far easier for us to create explosives without the authorities getting involved. They may well be waiting for us to do so. That way, they can just target our labs to supply themselves without the hassle.”
“Keep monitoring the bombs, Max. Dante, report our suspicions to Teo. I want to know if he has a secure facility we could repurpose as a lab.”
Dante smirks. “You seem very sure he’ll be receptive to your demands.”
The entire table looks at him curiously.
I roll my eyes and gesture for him to take the floor. “All right, tell us the news.”
Dante stands and drops a folder before me dramatically. “You might be interested in reading that.”
It’s quite anti-climatic considering how thin the legal document inside the folder is. Though I supposelegalisn’t the term one would necessarily associate with it.
“For the rest of the room,” I monotone as I read through the contract, “our esteemed representative of the Guild has just handed me a contract of alliance.”
A murmur quickly spreads among my peers as I continue to read and get to the bottom of the page. My eyebrows dart up in surprise at what I find at the bottom of the document.
“It appears that Teo Vitale and his second, Dante Grasso, have already signed it.” I look at the latter in surprise. “I thought Teo would at least want to play chicken about who signed first.”
Dante smirks. “I think we’re all excited to get this over with.”
Now that I’ve met the Guild’s terms, I suppose there isn’t much point in waiting around.
I glance out at the expectant faces of those at my table, some even standing to get a better view of the document. My fingers inch toward my pen.
“I guess there’s no point in delaying,” I murmur as I go to sign—only to freeze when I notice the box next to mine and under Dante’s signature.
