Page 304 of Marcello

“Yeah, he’s the manager.”

The manager!

Jesus, our lives had taken incredibly different turns…

“Tell him Marcello is here to see him, and that it’s an emergency.”

The guy took one look at Lars’s cold expression and hurried off to deliver the message.

When Pasquale appeared, I realized just how many years it had been. Since I’d seen him last, he’d acquired a gut, a few grey hairs, and the hangdog look of somebody unhappy with his life choices.

As soon as he saw me, Pasquale got an even more sour look on his face. “What do you want?”

Not a promising start.

“Can you open the door so we can talk?”

“What, so you can extort money from us?” he retorted.

He obviously held the whole Camorra thing against me. Understandable, although I’d actually begged Cesare not to mess with Sotto Napoli. I had a sentimental attachment to the place.

Not that Pasquale knew any of that.

“If you give us two minutes of your time, I’ll pay you 500 euros,” I said. “If you don’t like what I have to say, I’ll fuck off and you’ll never see me again.”

Pasquale distrustfully eyed Lars. “Who’s he?”

“A very wealthy business associate.”

Before Pasquale could say ‘no,’ I pressed five hundred-euro bills against the glass.

I knew I had him when I saw the hungry gleam in his eye.

I figured Pasquale made 200 euros a day at most – and that was before taxes. Five hundred euros for a couple of minutes? He might not shake hands with the devil for that much, but he’d at least hear him out.

Pasquale grudgingly unlocked the door, and Lars and I stepped inside.

I handed him the money. “How’ve you been, man? You still doing art?”

“No,” he snapped.

Probably a sensitive topic, so I moved to something more neutral. “What about Federica?”

“She married a banker, moved to France, and had a kid.”

Wow… didn’t see THAT one coming…

I was glad she got out of Naples, though, and I hoped she was happy.

“What do you want?” Pasquale demanded.

Okay, then – straight to it.

“Does ’o Munaciello still work here?”

Pasquale squinted at me. “Why do you want to know?”

“I just need to talk to him. Does he still work here?”