Page 92 of The Boss

I kiss her forehead and leave the room.

Once I get to my office, I close the door and immediately call Anthony.

“What’s it now, Gino?” Anthony grumbles on the phone.

“Two of my men just rescued Mateo from a warehouse that’s in your wife’s name. Care to explain that?” I ask.

He grunts.

“I’m prepared to make a deal, Anthony. One that will get us out of each other’s hair.”

“What do you have in mind?” he replies.

“I want all of your assets in the US.”

“That’s not happening.”

“Why not?” I ask. “Your son kidnapped my second-in-command, and it took almost a year to find him without your help. We deserve some form of compensation.”

“If you are so convinced it was my son, why don’t you kill him or handle him yourself?” he asks.

“I don’t want to kill your son,” I tell him, my patience slowly fading. “I want this to be as even as possible. We killed three of the men holding Mateo. I assume they weren’t your men; they were his. That seems to be enough on his end for punishment. But you didn’t assist us; you kept insisting it wasn’t Lorenzo who did this, even after you had evidence it was him.”

“I’m still not going to give you anything.” He pauses for a moment, and I can hear someone speaking to him.

“I’m going to kill him.”

“Who?” I ask.

“Lorenzo, I can’t believe my own flesh and blood would betray me like this.” He sounds angry.

“Who told you?”

“Salvo walked in and told me a warehouse under Anna’s name was raided. I didn’t know she had them,” he says.

“She didn’t; that was Lorenzo using her name as a cover,” I answer the question for him.

“I’m not denying it. He did do this, and I will handle him in my own way. But I’m not giving you anything.”

“If you don’t, I will find a way to take you down,” I say.

“Fine, I’ll give you the properties in New York,” he grumbles.

“You’re going to need to do better than that,” I reply sternly.

He doesn’t say a word for a moment, and I think he may have hung up.

“I’ll give you New York and Chicago,” he replies.

“No, I want all of it.” My voice is firm, my mind already made up. “You sat on the sidelines while your son did this. And I want all your people out of the city by tonight. I’m not dealing with your men in my territory anymore.”

He laughs.

“You are just like your father,” he scoffs.

“Excuse me?” My anger rises.

“Don’t need to get so upset,” he says defensively. “You Espositos are as hardheaded and bullish as they come.”