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“Thank you for… disrupting Bellini’s business,” I say carefully. “It’s been a big boon, these past few weeks. Yet I can’t help but notice that you haven’t taken yourprizeand left Benton City yet.”
Lucia’s eyes are trained on me, and I can feel the heat of her stare. I know she has to be wondering if I’m going to give her away, if being late for the date would’ve been better than refusing to get me off. I only smile indulgently at her, enjoying her paranoia.
Pavone laughs, taking a sip from his own wine glass. “I own Benton City now, Corvi. I’ve been wanting to expand, and what better place than my darling wife-to-be’s hometown? Besides, who else is going to take over Bellini’s business?You?”
It was alwaysmybusiness to begin with, but I don’t let my anger show.
“That was my thought, yes. I still have more allies here, and you’d need several months to mobilize the kinds of forces necessary to even make a dent in the local scene. Not to mention the amount of people here who bitterly resent your presence and would be quick to betray you.” I reach over to grab an appetizer from the basket closer to Lucia. She flinches subtly, probably not obvious enough for Pavone to have noticed. But I do.
“Are you paying for that?” Pavone asks.
“Are you so poor that you can’t afford to share a few appetizers?” I counter, and Pavone’s expression darkens.
“Help yourself! Guess it’s a free-for-all on this date.” Pavone gestures toward Lucia. “You want a piece ofhertoo, while you’re here?”
Lucia casts Pavone a dark look. To her credit, she doesn’t say anything. If we weren’t sitting with Pavone, I might have smiled at her or praised her.
Instead, I keep my expression blank and shake my head. “No, thank you. Now, if we could return to the matter at hand?”
“The matter at hand? You mean, you begging me to leave because you know you can’t compete with me? The answer is,fuck off.” Pavone leans back in his chair and gives me a huge grin. “Want to toast to that?”
“No. I’m giving you an easy way out, as a polite courtesy to a professional… colleague. There’s no need for you to lose so many men in the span of just a few hours.” I glance at my watch, more for show than anything. “Although if you really don’t need Castella and his crew…”
Now I have both Pavone and Lucia’s full attention. Pavone’s done away with any veneer of civility.
“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?” Pavone looks ready to drag me out of my chair and beat me. I suspect he’d be able to do it too, his bigger bulk lending him the advantage. But we’re still in public, at a restaurant that’s frequented not just by mobsters, but by politicians and elected officials too. This is much too public a venue to start a brawl.
“What I mean is, if you don’t agree tofuck offwithin the next week, there’s going to be a very tragic accident in about… ten minutes. You can prevent it.”
I wish I could spend more time watching Lucia’s expressions.
There isn’t much to see each time I do glance her way. She’s doing a good job hiding how she feels, and she’s leaving it between me and Pavone instead of trying to “help.” Good girl. She’d probably think I was being patronizing and condescending if I said that aloud, but I truly appreciate how much progress she’s made.
Now if only she’d work out the answer to her question.
Pavone is nearly red with apoplexy, in stark contrast to Lucia’s quiet demeanor. Any calm veneer of being a businessman has vanished, leaving in its wake that of a man truly afraid of losing control and ground. “You don’t want to start a war with me, Corvi,” he bites out. “Bellini was a pussy when it came to dealing with you and your little games, but I won’t be so generous.”
Although Pavone does have more power in the grand scheme of things, he also doesn’t give Bellini enough credit. That’s Pavone’s main weakness. He believes he’s the top dog, will always be the top dog, so everybody else must of course be insignificant.
I meet his gaze head-on. “If Castella ‘retires,’ you’re left with a very big problem here. It’ll be very clear to all of Bellini’s former men that you aren’t as omnipotent as you like to pretend. You’ll lose at least half of them just from that. Not to mention all the businesses Castella oversees in New Bristol. Are you truly willing to risk it?”
Pavone’s sneer deepens, but I can tell he’s making the same calculations. Almost grudgingly, he asks, “What, you just want me gone? I’m not picking up any messes.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” I say generously. “After all, it’s a mess of mine and Bellini’s making. I’m willing to do the dirty work of cleaning it up.”
Then Pavone gestures in Lucia’s direction. “And her? You expect me to leave her behind too? Because I won’t. You can have her sis and her mom, but I didn’t come all this way just to leave empty-handed.”
Lucia’s expression is far too mild to be natural, and her breathing is too even. She’s forcing herself to remain calm, but she’s far from it. She wants to be a part of this ‘conversation,’ but she stays quiet. She drains her wine glass, the only real indication that this is getting to her.
I almost wish she would act out, because I love seeing her fire, but I have no doubt Pavone wouldn’t be as gentle with her as I am.
To Pavone, I say, “That’s fine. I don’t want her.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Lucia’s features flicker with confusion. She narrows her eyes at me, clearly on the verge of speaking up. I stare at her for a moment, answering none of her unspoken questions, before turning my attention completely back to Pavone.
He’s chuckling and shaking his head with amusement. “Of course you don’t. She told me how you could barely get it up for her. But I gotta tell you, you’re missing out. She’s got a nice, tight cunt. Your little micro-dick didn’t affect her much.”
I’m stunned—and I almost ruin everything by bursting out laughing. I didn’t expect Lucia to spread lies like that about me. I’m surprised Angelo hadn’t latched onto that and carried the joke back to me.
