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“If I had a wife and child, I’d be very protective of them when men like Frederico Colombo are involved. That’s all I’m saying to you. Me? You have nothing to worry about, but you should be very worried where he’s concerned. I’m just saying, tell your wife what’s going on, is all.”
“You let me worry about my family!” he growls.
Nodding, I say, “Okay. Good day, Mr. Valentino.”
“Good. Day. Mr. DeLuca,” he grunts through clenched teeth.
I turn to take my leave, and my cell phone rings no sooner than I’m back in my car, and Bruno is driving off.
“Yeah.”
“Did he take your offer?”
“No.”
A heavy sigh is released on the other end before I hear the other man start hacking up a lung.
“Frederico, you should give up those damn cigars.”
“Fuck you, DeLuca!”
“It’s too bad that people don’t listen to me when they should,” I mutter into the phone.
“What was that?”
“Hey, do me a favor. Leave the man alone, a’ight?”
“You know we can’t do that. If he cuts off our account, do you know how fucked that is for my family? You know how he’s leaving our asses exposed?”
“Find a new laundromat,” I reply dully.
“We’re on top of that already! But it’s costing us a lot more money than it should! Who does this fucking bastard think he is anyway?”
“Just back off the man, Colombo.”
“Can’t do that,” he says and hangs up the phone.
Turning to my left, I glance at the man sitting at my side. “Barber, get someone on Valentino. Tell them to keep an eye on the wife and kid too.”
“A’ight, Boss.”
Mario “The Barber” Conti is my top advisor, always ready to advise when needed and handle the finances. He tries to keep his hands clean for the most part, and I try to help him do the same.
I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep Carlo and his family safe, but I’ll try. That’s all I can do. After all, I promised his uncle on his death bed that I would do whatever I could to keep his nephew safe. The only thing I cannot do is cross up family or go against another family for him.
