Page 10 of Mafia Star

Hunter decides for them.

“You guys know Luigi Delfino, right? Tommy, he grew up on the same block as us. What are you, like five years older than me and Tommy?”

“Something like that. Hey, Tommy.”

“Do you know Ian Grady?”

It was O’Grady until his family came to America during the Potato Famine. The guy’s up to his eyeballs in the mob. We’ve paid him for a few jobs, but he’s sketchy as fuck. What the fuck is Luigi doing meeting with a guy who has known mob ties? This gets more and more interesting.

“Yeah. We’ve met.”

Luigi offers nothing more, so the men just stand around. They’re looking at each other, but I can’t see Hunter’s expression. He angles himself, so the camera is on Luigi, but I think he’s looking at Ian and Tommy.

“I thought you guys had somewhere yous had to be. We won’t keep yous.”

Neither cop moves, but the camera is trained on Luigi, who’s watching the two men. He’s shooting one of them a look that clearly says “leave.” But Tommy and Ian are too slow.

“Ah. This is your meeting. Interesting.”

Hunter shifts, and now we can see Tommy and Ian, who appear uncomfortable. There’s another pause before Hunter continues.

“I want in. Whatever this is. A Mancinelli man meeting a cop on the O’Rourke payroll and another who’ll take money from any outstretched hand means something.”

Luigi slides his hand into his pocket, where I know he has a knife. But he won’t brandish it. At least, not yet. There are too many people around. Tommy points to the door.

“Let’s go inside.”

He moves past Luigi on the steps and unlocks the door to a hallway that runs between two shops. There’s a steep staircase to the right and a door at the end of the hallway. When Tommy takes three steps toward the stairs, Hunter crosses his arms.

“Uh-uh. You’re not killing me in some room I can’t get out of. Right here. Right now. What’s going on?”

Ian gets in Hunter’s face.

“We’re not talking about this where anyone can walk in.”

“Bullshit. It’s ten o’clock. The stores’ve been closed for hours. There are no lights on upstairs, and Tommy had to unlock the door to get in. No one’s coming in, and no one’s around to hear us. Speak now.”

Ian leans in.

“You’re awfully fucking pushy. I wonder why? Someone paying you?”

“No. But someone is paying yous, and now that I know you’re having a little powwow, I expect a cut. Yous ain’t gonna kill me or even fuck with me.”

Hunter may not have any family to miss him, but he is the captain’s pet project. Tommy and Ian don’t have the resources we do to make someone go poof. They’d leave a trail leading straight back to them. They know that.

Tommy pushes at Ian’s shoulder, trying to intervene.

“We aren’t getting paid. The feds chose us.”

Hunter laughs.

“Right. Yous two? The feds? Bullshit.”

“They know our ties. They knew we’d be able to get someone in the Mancinellis to talk.”

Hunter turns to Luigi.

“Is what Tommy said true? The feds are pressuring you?”

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