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It communicates what they need it to:attempt to fuck with him, we’ll immediately retaliate.
I stick two fingers in my mouth and blow a sharp, shrill whistle that’s painful to the ears. It makes everybody in the room flinch and look around in instant confusion. Their gazes fall on me, seated at the head of the table.
I haven’t budged an inch through all the commotion. If you ask me, both Giancola and Kozlov are being whiny bitches that need to shut the fuck up.
Which I’m about to tell them. They’ll do what I say and like it.
When silence dominates the room full of mafia bosses and their loyal henchmen, I fold my hands on the table and raise my brows. I’m looking at Kozlov, who’s still standing up with a vein pulsing in his temple.
He gets the hint and drops into his seat. His men recede, if only slightly.
Next, I direct an equally patronizing look Giancola’s way. He huffs out a breath and then puts out his cigarette that’s stinking up the enclosed room.
“Gentlemen,” I say slowly, “need I remind you these gatherings are supposed to be civilized? This is no dick measuring contest. This is no place for temper tantrums and emotional outbursts. If you can’t follow those rules, then I’m afraid you’re forcing my hand. I’ll gladlymakeyou understand. Though I don’t think you’d like my method. I’m told it’s messy… and bloody.”
Kozlov clenches his teeth, his fists still tight on the table. “You made promises, Salvatore. You said you would not do as your predecessor planned. Yet here you are… you are doing just that.”
“Perhaps the language barrier is tougher than I thought. This is about our new distributor. This isn’t about territory. Your territory will remain untouched. No need to get your panties in a twist, Vladimir.”
“That distributor is hardly new! He has been providing product to our operation for years!”
“His scope has changed,” I answer, unconcerned by his outrage. “That means things change for us too. He’ll be providing some of his product to the Giancola organization. Which means your percentage will have to go down for that to happen. It is the fairest way to handle this change.”
“But I notice the Mancino ration is not lowering. I wonder why that is so!”
“I’ll tell you why. Because I say so. Either you accept that’s the way things are, or you’ve got a problem with it. Do we have a problem, Vladimir?”
The burly Russian with his shoulder-length hair that’s an earth brown with touches of gray, glares at me. It’s clear from the irritation blazing in his gaze he does have a problem. He just doesn’t have the balls to hold his ground.
“No. We do not have a problem. That is the way things are. As you say.” He rises, motioning with his head for his men to follow.
The group exits the room with little other fanfare. With Kozlov gone, Nick Giancola sits up and puts away the lighter he’s been fiddling around with, flashing a toothy grin.
“The way the SOB’s crying, you’d think he was losing more than five percent.”
I’m unamused. “You’re getting your cut of this new distribution, Nick. Don’t push your luck by shit talking.”
“Would I be me if I didn’t shit talk, Psycho? Catch ya around,” Nick laughs, bidding me farewell. He strolls out of the room with his small crew in tow, looking like he’s about to go for a fucking picnic in the park.
Once everybody’s gone, Stitches whistles and moves out from where he’s lurked in the background. The other men I’ve had standing guard leave the room and move on to other duties.
“That was intense. Do mafia bosses always gotta be so damn angry?”
“We’ve been over this. Nobody’s going to be sunshine and rainbows, Francis. Sorry to burst your bubble.”
“But Kozlov’s a whole ‘nother level. The guy must have a stick up his ass.”
“You’d think. That’s just his MO.”
“He wasn’t happy with the final verdict,” Stitches says, pushing his wire-framed glasses up his skinny nose. “He doesn’t like that he’s losing some of his cut.”
“And he’ll deal.”
I haven’t got the patience to hear any more complaints.” It’s bad enough I had to hold a sit down between the two families in the first place. They’ve been escalating tensions for a while now. Last week was the final straw, when one of Giancola’s crews got into it with some of Kozlov’s men.
A brutal gunfight later, two innocent civilians landed in the hospital, and one of Kozlov’s guys died.
The last thing I need is to ignite the ire of Northam’s DA. Since Polk took up the mantle, he’s more or less stayed out of our way. His hands have been full dealing with the fallout from former Mayor Bernstein’s pedophile scandal, the death of current Mayor Adams, and the major revelation that the Neptune Society was the most corrupt organization in the city.
