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Protecting Giulio would be a lot easier if he didn’t pull stunts like these.
“You don’t need extra territory!” Nilo says, even as he takes a few more steps back. “You have to deal with the mess you left with Corvi and his crew before they try to come in and fuck with us.”
“Shut up,” Lauro hisses, but it’s too late.
Giulio’s grin widens. “More territory sounds like just the kind of thing I need. How about all of yours?” He pulls the pin on the grenade and throws it in Lauro and Nilo’s direction.
Their foot soldiers shout and begin running.Ourfoot soldiers take off in the other direction, which tells me they’re useless cowards and we’ll have to deal with them as soon as all of this is over.
I don’t know what Luigi Bucci would have done, but I can’t risk him retaliating. I shoot him before he has time to pull the trigger on his own gun, one clean shot to his forehead that rings out across the warehouse just as the grenade goes off.
The explosion releases a cloud of white smoke that quickly fills the air, making it impossible to see anything in the immediate vicinity. I cough, trying to grab for Giulio so I can drag him toward the door, but he’s already moved.
I hear a yelp, but I can’t see anything through the thickening smoke.
“Let go!” Nilo yells, sounding much more like a scared teenager than a supposed mafia man. “Don’t touch me!”
“Chill, man, I just have to make sure you aren’t packing.” There’s a pause, and Giulio laughs. “You sure you’ve hit puberty, kid? There’s not much to feel here.” It’s followed by the sound of metal clattering to the floor, and a gun slides across the floor in my direction. I quickly pick up the weapon, emptying the chamber of bullets.
“Giulio, stop playing around,” I say, although I know how useless an order like that is.
Nilo makes another sound, but I can’t see what’s going on through the billowing smoke. It’s begun to diffuse in some places, wafting out through the room, but it’s still thick from the point of impact, and I can’t tell what’s going on.
“You fucking pervert!” Nilo snaps. “That’s all I’ve got!”
“That’s what she said?” Giulio laughs again. “Lauro, how much is this kid worth to you? I can think of a few places that would enjoy a little babyface like him. I’ll let you have the central districts in exchange for him.”
“Get your hands off my son,” Lauro snarls. “You can keep your whorehouses. We don’t care about them. But the drug trade is ours. You can’t handle it. Your father could barely keep up with it, and he had a hell of a lot more experience than you do.”
I aim my gun in the direction of Lauro’s voice, trying to hold back my coughs. I should have realized that Giulio wasn’t going in without a plan of some sort, although if I’d known his plan was this dangerous, I would have vetoed it.
Which is probably why he didn’t tell me.
“Fucking harsh,” Giulio answers. Nilo whimpers loudly. “You hear that, Nilo? Your dad’s more concerned with his drug trade than your life. And—”
Suddenly Nilo yelps loudly.
“Oops. My hand slipped. Did I nick you too badly, Nilo? I’m just not as deft with knives as my buddy Slayer.”
The smoke is finally starting to clear a bit, revealing Giulio restraining Nilo with a knife to his throat. It reminds me of how he’d threatened Vanessa to get us all away from Corvi unharmed. Although he hadn’t left a thin, red slice across Vanessa’s throat.
Nilo has gone utterly still, but for his rapid breaths. “Dad. Dad! Call it off. He’s fucking crazy! Just let him have what he wants!”
Lauro’s expression has gone absolutely livid. In the confusion, he’d drawn his own gun, but his aim is unsteady. If he attempts to shoot Giulio, he risks hitting his son. If he turns his aim on me… well, his son probably won’t survive. Lauro’s eyes are drawn to Luigi’s lifeless body, and he grimaces.
“Your… your demands?” Lauro bites out.
“I told you! We carry on as before. Although I think you can give my family a better cut. How does an extra ten percent sound?” Giulio scrapes the edge of the knife along Nilo’s neck.
“Fine!” Lauro barks out. “You can have it. Let Nilo go now.”
“Damien! Reach into my bag. There’s a contract for Lauro to sign. We’re running legitimate businesses here.”
I really shouldn’t be surprised by anything Giulio does anymore. I keep my gun trained on Lauro even as I bend down and reach into Giulio’s bag one-handed. I come across a clear file folder, and the top-most paper is indeed something that resembles a contract. A quick scan reveals a warehouse contract of sorts, with the business header for one of our shell companies. The other party named is one of Lauro’s “construction” companies.
As far as I can tell, it’s the only contract in here.
Giulio never planned to leave with any terms other than these.
