“No,” my father said. “We do need to rush.”
“Why?” Leo asked. “Something you know that we don’t?”
Elio looked at my brother and then my father.
I sat there in silence at the far side of the table, always an observer but never a participant. Wolfe wasn’t there because he was handling a dispute at the customs office. And byhandling, that probably meant smashing in some skulls.
My father released a quiet breath before he stabbed his cigar into the ashtray.
Oh no.
“Wolfe just gave me some imperative information,” my father said.
I remained still and quiet, but I felt unease in my stomach because I didn’t have a clue what he referred to…and I probably should know.
“The Skull King is advancing into Sicily. Anyone moving powder without his authorization is meeting an early grave,” my father said. “He’s got this lieutenant with a reputation that precedes him. His name is Icarus.”
Leo shifted his gaze to Elio and then Andre. He even looked at me, as if I’d have a clue who that was.
“Wolfe anticipates that all the gangs are going to change their businesses to be in accordance with this regime—by trying to take ours. If we want to maintain our authority, we’re going to have to stay one step ahead. And we need to terminate the newly acquired powder business from Lombardi.”
There was silence across the table, like no one could believe what my father had just said.
I couldn’t believe it either, because Wolfe hadn’t told me this himself.
“How does Wolfe know this?” Leo asked.
“Cosa Nostra,” my father answered.
“And why is he speaking with his previous employer?” Elio asked, a coldness in his tone because he’d always been the most suspicious of Wolfe.
“They asked him to rejoin in light of what I just shared,” my father said as he drummed his fingers on the table.
“And what did he say?” Leo demanded.
“What do you mean, what did he say?” my father barked. “He’s at the customs office right now.”
“What if he’s playing us?” Elio asked. “They’re worried about Icarus, so they asked Wolfe to rejoin them so they can take our arms business. Now he’s a double agent, and this is a coup.”
Wolfe would never do that, but I couldn’t say a damn word in his defense.
“I don’t think that’s his angle,” my father said. “From what I’ve observed of Wolfe, he comes at you straight on. He doesn’t lurk in the shadows like a coward and bide his time until you drop your guard. He’s the reason Luigi didn’t kill us all, and he’s the reason Francesca is still alive and Umberto and his cronies are dead. He’s earned our trust.”
“So, he just told you he spoke with Cosa Nostra?” Leo asked.
“No, Richard told me he saw him,” my father said.
“And that’s not suspicious to you?” Elio asked. “He didn’t tell you on his own. He only shared it because you ambushed him.”
“I don’t think so.” My father’s eyes hardened as he stared at a man he’d trusted for a decade. “If Wolfe wanted us dead, all he had to do was roll in with Cosa Nostra in the beginning and kill us all. They’re a much bigger operation than us. Unless there’s some personal vendetta I don’t know about, it doesn’t make sense to invest this much time in such a complicated plot. It doesn’t make sense for him to share this information about Icarus and encourage us to ramp up our manpower if he wants to take us down.” His eyes shifted from Leo to Elio and then to Andre. “Wolfe is one of us. I thought you shared that same attitude.”
Leo crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the surface of the table for a moment before he gave a nod. “Yeah, he is.”
Even Elio seemed to agree. “He could have let Umberto go, but he hunted him down and finished the job. The other gangs fear us because he’s one of us.”
“Took a while for me to warm up to him,” Andre said. “But you’re right. He’s done a lot for us, a lot more than anyone else, and I think he’s earned our trust at this point.”
Even though my father hadn’t finished his previous cigar before he put it out, he lit up a new one. “He still didn’t tell me what Cosa Nostra did to make him leave their employ, but he did say they reversed whatever it was. But too little, too late, I guess.” He put the cigar in his mouth and lit the tip as he sucked on the end, getting it going like a campfire. “Their stupidity has resulted in our good fortune.”
