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His face turned an ugly shade of purple. “You will all regret this someday.”
“Maybe,” Frank replied coolly. “But not right now.”
“Shall we take the vote?” Claudio asked, ignoring Sal’s protests.
“I vote yes.” Frank shrugged.
“As do I,” Claudio added. They turned to the others.
“Yes,” Moretti said, “just to get this over with.”
“I vote no.” This came from Vito Costa. His eyes flicked towards Sal. Clearly, he was more afraid of the Scaranos than he was of me. That would need to change.
“I vote no,” Sal said quickly, glaring at Mario Russo.
I held my breath. Whatever Russo decided would either make it a tie—in which we would be forced to reconvene another day—or it would grant me the title I deserved.
Russo studied me closely. My walls immediately went up. I didn’t want him to see just how much his vote mattered to me. Instead, my eyes promised vengeance if he didn’t vote yes.
“Yes.”
Sal turned towards me, already smiling until he realized what Russo’s vote was. He shot to his feet. “This is fucking insane. You cannot put this girl as the head of the Rosania family! She’s a child!”
“If I’m not mistaken,” Frank said slowly, “she’s the same age as your son.”
Sal’s mouth snapped shut. He knew he had no other argument for why I couldn’t lead other than being a woman, which had already been voted on. Clearly, my sex wasn’t enough to keep the others from believing that I could do the damn job. But I would forever remember those who voted no. By the look on Costa’s face, he probably realized that.
“Do we need to do the whole ceremony?” Moretti asked. “Or are we good here?”
I shook my head. I had already asked too much from them. I couldn’t press it on something as trivial as a ceremony.
“What other matters are there to discuss?” Claudio asked, moving on.
“I have one.”
“Not even five minutes in, and already you’re having a problem?” Sal asked coldly.
“We’re having a problem, yes,” I reminded him. No matter how hard Sal tried to ignore it, the Snake was as much a problem for me as it was for him. This mystery murderer was poaching from both our families, and Sal was letting it slide.
“As you all know, my father was murdered,” I started. “We know nothing about who killed him except that they call themselves the Snake and use venom from an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake as their calling card. From what I’ve gathered, they’ve been bribing men from both my family and the Scaranos to their side, planting rats in our ranks.”
I didn’t think Sal could look any more purple. “They are not bribing my men.”
My eyes cut to him. “So, they’re going willingly? With no incentive? What does that say about your men’s loyalty then?” Ignoring him, I continued. “This…person is a threat to both our families here in New York, and we cannot afford to lose our position.”
“This mystery person is solely in New York?” Costa asked.
“Once he conquers New York, what would stop him from doing the same to any of you?” That was the card I hoped would push some of them to take this seriously. “I’m not asking for men or money. We have enough of both of those. I’m asking for other resources. Help with tracking this Snake down and taking him out once and for all.”
“And how would we do that?” Claudio asked.
I’d thought this through the night before. “Most of our families have connections across the country—and globally. I need to find out anything I can about this Snake. Where they came from. If they’ve had dealings in other states in the U.S or abroad. Anything we can learn about this person, I need to know.”
“So, you just need information.” Frank’s head tilted, as if he were considering it. “That’s not actually asking for much.”
“Because I have everything else under control.”
The bosses exchanged quiet looks. I couldn’t tell what they thought about what was happening here. I knew it didn’t look good that my father had been murdered while in hiding. It meant that, whoever this Snake was, knew more than they should. It also meant that I clearly didn’t have things under control like I’d promised I would just a few minutes ago. But I needed help. Dante and I couldn’t figure this out on our own, even if I was now Don with everything at my disposal.
