“Got it.”
After dialing it, I mused, “Here goes nothing.”
“Hello?” Vincent demanded.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Moreno. This is Leandro Caruso.”
“How did you get this number?”
I grinned into the phone. “Let’s just say I have talented associates.”
“What do you want, Neretti?”
“Let’s not play games, Vincent. You sent a message to my father-in-law for my wife.”
Silence crackled over the line. “Did she pass the note to you?”
“Actually, she only delivered the message.”
“I see.”
“Obviously, I’m not going to back down.”
“Is that right?”
“Look, I’m willing to make you a very lucrative offer just to walk away. I’ll even overlook you sending a warning to my father-in-law.”
“Trust me, Mr. Neretti, there isn’t anything you could entice me with to let Edoardo Caruso’s son-in-law run a casino in my father-in-law's territory.”
“Vincent, you and I both know my casino will not be in Ricci territory.”
“But the adjacent property you want so badly is.”
“You’re right. I don’t just want it–I need it. So now that I’ve laid my cards on the table, let’s find a resolution.”
“Did you know Edoardo Caruso was the man who killed my mother?”
Fuuuuck. This wasn’t happening. Vincent was an outsider. How was it possible his mother had any ties to Caruso?
After exhaling a breath, I replied, “No, I didn’t. Considering what an enormous bastard he is, I can’t say I’m too surprised.”
“She worked for him as a personal secretary after my dad left. When she got pregnant, he forced her to go with him to a butcher. She ended up dying two days later of sepsis.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Edoardo,” I gritted out.
“As you can see, there’s not enough money in the world you can offer me to allow anything connected to Edoardo close to our territory.”
I jerked a hand through my hair. “I have my own reasons, but I can assure you that I loathe Caruso just as much as you do. He gets nothing from my casino. It is mine and mine alone.”
“There is no casino for you, Neretti. Have a good day.”
When he hung up, I flung my phone onto my desk. “Motherfucker!”
“Jesus, what a mess,” Gianni muttered.
“There has to be a way around this.”
“Maybe it’s time to find another property,” Gianni suggested.
