AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Clara was beautiful according to those things too. She had light eye color, and both of her parents had good genes in terms of physique. I was sure she was going to be a beautiful woman. I knew that, but I didn’t know if she was really cute. Cuteness was something that affected people. It didn’t affect me, so if I didn’t pay attention to what people found cute, I would not know.
Thankfully Dad saved me from the burden of answering by saying, “She is cute.” Alessio knew about my problem, but I knew he would still get offended if I didn’t say I thought his daughter was cute.
“Can we start so maybe Alessio can go back home before his daughter’s sleep time?” I asked, and Alessio nodded frantically. I could see how much it hurt him to be away from his wife and baby daughter.
Salvatore got comfortable in his chair, and his face changed instantly. He was good at getting his serious Capo face back on. “I wanted Alessio here because we are gonna have visitors, and I wanted him to know as well.”
“You could have texted me,” Alessio said, rolling his eyes, but it was different than his previous comments. He was aware he was needed here.
Salvatore threw him a look anyway. “Gabriele Falzone is coming. He wants us to have that truce.”
“About time,” Dad murmured. The idea of a truce between the Five Families and the Outfit was probably going on since he was a young boy. There were always some problems. After Gabriele Falzone ended the Five Families and took over the East Coast, our negotiations continued, but I knew it was a dead end. For the real truce, we needed to come together. With the death of our previous Capo and Salvatore’s wedding and then the horrible Bratva attack, we didn’t have time to go there. It was never in our plans. Falzone was also busy dealing with Bratva and having a baby for longer than a year now.
Still, the truce was good. I was definitely for it. I would prefer having Russian enemies to having Italian ones. Blood was important in Cosa Nostra.
“He is probably worried because Nikolayev took over the power. Both of us are fighting against the Bratva. Our union would be beneficial,” I declared my opinion.
My father nodded in agreement, but Alessio turned to Salvatore. “I thought you had a beef with him because of his marriage.”
“That was in the past,” Salvatore answered. It was not too much in the past, but he did get over that. Gabriele’s marriage caused a lot of talk in all of Cosa Nostra. Salvatore was probably the first boss that let it go.
Alessio didn’t seem convinced. He was not always present in our meetings, so it was only natural. “Didn’t he marry someone from the Bratva? How can we make an alliance against the Bratva?”
This was what everybody said, but it was not true. “Kira Falzone was never part of the Bratva. She was not born into the Bratva or married into it. As a woman, she is also not inducted. She was basically a captive kept by the Bratva boss.”
Salvatore nodded at my words. “Yes. Gabriele’s marriage with Kira does not mean he is sympathetic towards the Bratva. Hell, he hates it.”
“They held his wife captive,” I pointed out again. “You have that in common.”
I could see the fire spreading in Salvatore’s eyes. Reminding him of that horrible memory was probably not a good idea, but I was really in favor of this truce and alliance. I wanted to push him using his hate against the Bratva because even though he might want the truce now, it might change when Falzone came here. His darker side might come out instead of his logical side.
When that happened, my job was to be his logical side.
“I invited them to the twins’ birthday party this Friday,” Salvatore revealed, still having that hard look on his face. He was probably going to be tense until he went back home to Mia and his siblings.
“Great idea,” Dad praised. “We should treat it as a friendly visit rather than a business deal.” We all knew that was how we were supposed to do it, but Dad liked to remind us of these things. With a young Capo and a young Consigliere, he was worried we might forget our traditions.
He was also not the biggest fan of Salvatore for abolishing some traditions. Old Made Men were hard to convince when it came to their precious traditions. The only time my dad accepted Salvatore did something good was at his wedding with my sister Mia. I asked my father if he would prefer for my sister’s bloody sheets to be presented in the morning, and he said maybe some things were needed to be abolished.
Other Made Men had to accept it because Salvatore was strong. They still held some traditions in their families but what counted was the Chicago Outfit as a whole. Salvatore was the type of Capo that could renovate things in the mafia.
“I am in favor of the truce,” Salvatore said, gathering all the attention back to himself. “But we need to discuss what might happen in their visit. Gabriele is coming with his brother and sister. We should make plans about how to make them feel welcomed and shit, but we also need to be prepared for the negotiations. His Consigliere Roberto is not coming, but Gabriele is still smart on his own. We won’t be able to play him, so we should deal with this in the right way. We should have a plan.”
I smiled at Salvatore’s words. Not because I was happy or amused but because I wanted to give him a smile as encouragement. “Everything will go according to our plan, don’t worry.”
Because everything in life had to go according to my plan.
All the time.
Chapter 3
Priscilla
“Michele, can you zip me up?” I asked my brother and turned my back, gathering my hair.
Michele groaned but still reached for my zipper. “Do you have to dress like a whore?”
Before I could answer, Gabriele’s harsh tone sounded in the room, “Michele!”
