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The strength in which it goes down makes me think they both must be dead. They aren’t though.
I leap my bike over a dead tree trunk as I round in closer. Tanner is injured but the fucker is alive and crawling out from the window of his side of the pickup. The fucker starts firing at me. It must be the cop syndrome. I’m pretty sure that anybody else would have run to at least try and save themselves. Not this guy. He wants to be a hero when it’s him who stole from us.
I dodge the bullets he sends my way. one nearly got me though. I aim at him. I just need one shot. I take it and it goes in his head.
He drops to the ground at the same time I hear another shot echo through the night and realize that’s Vincent.
As I round back I see he got Falcone.
We got them. The two of them are dead, dead, dead.
It’s over.
* * *
I’ve been so stressed over the whole situation that I can’t believe I don’t have to worry about it anymore.
The guns were taken back to the warehouse to get the shipment underway, Angelo was contacted and faith restored. All is well.
Vincent insisted on calling a meeting first thing in the morning, though. And it wasn’t any old meeting. It was a call to the heads of each family in the Giordano famiglia , and those with any responsibility in the business.
That meant Pa, me, and Georgiou in a room again, along with my two other uncles and the brothers from Vincent’s side.
This is the first meeting we’ve had like this with everyone here since Vincent’s father made him boss.
We’re all here at the boardroom of Giordanos Inc.
Vincent is at the head of the table and his brothers sit to his right in order of rank. Salvatore as underboss and consigliere, Gabe as first capo, then Nick as the second. After Nick is Pa and my two uncles curve the table. Georgiou is next to Vincent on his left, then me.
We all sat accordingly with ease, everybody knowing their place automatically. I certainly knew mine.
It’s unfortunate that I’m practically staring my father right in the eyes.
Over the last few weeks, I could have checked in with him and updated him on what was happening. I didn’t bother. Vincent did all that.
As I look my father in the eye he feels dead to me if he can wish death on me.
He has a rugged look about him which I’m guessing is to do with the divorce. Either he’s shaken by it because Ma is leaving him, or he’s shaken by the split in their assets. It’s a lot to lose even half. Well, he’s lost a son too.
I look away from him and focus on Vincent as he clears his throat, signaling the start of the meeting and we all give him our undivided attention.
“Thank you all for coming, I’ve called this meeting to update you on the recent situation involving the theft of one of our shipments and to address a few other things of importance that I feel we need to talk about,” Vincent states. “This shouldn’t take long. First of all, we have managed to secure the guns and everything has been set back on track. I will look into the previous shipment Falcone got to and make good with the client, so no one has to worry about that.”
Vincent pauses, looks at each of us but his gaze lands on Pa and I don’t miss the crude stare he gives him. He looks away, but the look was fixated long enough for others to see he has a problem with Pa. Not even Vincent’s father has ever done that. It was definitely noted.
Vincent continues with his speech.
“Last night Falcone, and his cop accomplice were eliminated. We’ve disposed of Falcone in the normal manner, but our associates have provided the cover that the cop died in a gang shootout. Since the pickup was registered to him we were able to make it look legit. I have no worries about him either since our intel was able to provide evidence that he was associated in drug related dealings with various gang members.”
I listen and take it in. We always have to worry about cops and feds. It’s difficult when one of them gets involved this way and we kill them. to my knowledge that hasn’t happened in recent years. I remember it happening with Frankie though.
As Vincent straightens I know he’s about to get to the crux of the meeting. It wasn’t all he just spoke about. That could have been done with a phone call. I know the man well enough to guess that he wanted everyone here so he could lay down the law. He’s about to.
“Business will return to what it was previously, the staff at the warehouse have been replaced and screened so this situation won’t happen again. I say that, but we don’t know. We don’t know what can happen and we act according to what we consider right at the time. I think it’s important to reinforce that I’m in charge here of every aspect of the business and I will deal with any issues accordingly. I do not need, nor accept, orders being issued to my men by anybody else besides me.” Again he looks at Pa. Pa would be an idiot not guess that I spoke to Vincent, or rather, it wasn’t difficult to figure out what was said to me. “I do things a certain way to make sure we stay alive. I already lost a brother and I won’t lose another family member to shit. That being said I think it’s reasonable to make another change to the hierarchy. Georgiou has a good handle on the business side of things and I’m proud of the work he does. Christian was allocated the care of the warehouses and the shipments, and will continue to do so. But I’d be an fool to rob him of his other skills I need with me on the streets to sort shit out when it calls for it. I’ve spoken with my brothers, and Georgiou, and we all agree that he should be made third capo to the line of defense.”
I straighten up and stare at him. “What?” I ask.
Traditionally no one speaks until the boss tells them they can. I don’t mean to be disrespectful in anyway. It’s just surprise that got me and I forgot my place.
