“We’re all well, Frankie.” He stopped to give her a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead.
I was a little bit jealous. That he could touch her and kiss her, and I couldn’t do a damn thing except stare at her.
Don Mancini continued forward, and when I passed Francesca, I gently brushed my hand against hers, the touch of our fingertips enough to light my veins on fire. I proceeded into the house, to the third story, where his office was located.
We gathered inside, Leo and Elio joining us on the couches. I could tell by the clouds in the sky that it was about to rain. It was forecast to pour all day and all night. Perfect weather to lie in bed with Francesca for hours.
Don Mancini leaned against his desk, arms crossed over his chest, and he looked at me where I sat in the armchair. “I don’t agree with the way you handled the situation tonight, but I’m grateful for your intervention. Lombardi’s words have sunken into my flesh and been absorbed in my bone marrow…and I start to wonder if he’s right. That perhaps I’m living in the past, honoring a code that doesn’t exist anymore, and if I don’t adapt, there will be other Lombardis who want my head in the future.”
There would be.
“I want peace. But perhaps peace is a figment of my imagination.”
“Oh, it definitely exists,” I said. “But people misinterpret what peace really is.” My hands came together, and I massaged my knuckles. “History is written by the victors. Peace is determined by the tyrants. Peace and power are one and the same. One cannot exist without the other. Whoever controls the power controls the peace. Maintain your power and run the show—and you can have all the damn peace that you want. But you must be a tyrant to accomplish that. Otherwise, you’ll have to submit to someone else, tolerate whatever temperature they prefer to set the thermostat. The Skull King is monopolizing the drug business, so instead of fighting him, they’re choosing to dominate you instead. We need to prove how grave a mistake that is. And Luigi is our first example.”
Don Mancini continued to stare at me, having a much better poker face than his daughter. Her emotions and thoughts danced across her features like a lit-up billboard. At least, that was how she was with me.
“He’s right,” Leo said. “The ecosystem has changed, so the players have changed with it. If we want to survive, we need to adapt. I think Wolfe is exactly what our crew needs right now.”
Elio didn’t chime in but looked at his boss instead.
“Trust is like a garden,” Don Mancini said. “It can take years to spot the weeds from the flowers.”
“Was Luigi a weed or a flower?” I challenged.
A slight movement happened in his eyes, like my words dug deep.
“I don’t need you to trust me,” I said. “But I want to be treated as an equal from now on. I want to be utilized to my full potential because, with all due respect, you really fucking need me.”
Don Mancini drew a single breath, his chest rising slowly before he released that breath just as slowly. “I find it suspicious that someone of your caliber would want to join us. You could go anywhere, Wolfe. Not just in Sicily, but in Italy or France or New York.”
“I already told you my reasons.”
“Yes, you respect the way we do business. But the way you handled Luigi is not the way we do business, so it’s contradictory.”
“That was a retaliation, not a provocation. If someone wants to fuck around and find out, let them find out. And Cosa Nostra and the other gangs do shit that I don’t tolerate. Trust me, you are not the same.”
“Elaborate.”
I shook my head. “I told you I’m not a rat.”
He continued to stare at me.
“You follow American basketball?”
Don Mancini didn’t react, but Leo answered. “Yes. Why?”
“Remember when LeBron James returned to Cleveland to win them the championship? Then he moved on and joined the Lakers afterward? It’s kinda like that. You’re the original Mafia—and I respect that.”
“And you think you’re LeBron James?” Leo asked with a chuckle.
“Damn fucking right I am.” I sat back in the armchair and looked at Don Mancini again.
The biggest reason they could trust me was one I couldn’t share—because I would never betray my woman. I’d met her just a couple weeks ago, but she’d quickly become my entire life, my entire purpose, an irrational obsession that fueled me night and day. “Am I in or not?”
Leo turned to look at his father. Then he gave a subtle nod.
Elio did the same.
