Page 12 of Inherting the Mafia

"Define deep."

"Anything pertaining to the family or organization."

"Well," Anthony said, "I don't know much about either so that won't be a problem."

"Anthony—"

Anthony glared at me. "Stop calling me Anthony. That was my father's name. My name is Tony."

"Very well, Tony. You can call me Vito."

He nodded.

"As I was saying, Borelli shouldn't ask you anything too important so try and let me do most of the talking unless he addresses you directly. And remember, be respectful."

"I'm not stupid, Vito," Tony snapped. "I know who Borelli is and I know what it'll mean if I piss him off. I'll be a good little boy."

I doubted he'd been a good boy a single time in his entire life. He had naughty written all over him.

"Once you've gotten your feet wet, things will get easier," I pointed out. "You just need to learn the ropes."

Tony groaned and dropped his head back against the seat. "That sounds boring."

It rankled a little bit that Tony was dismissing my life's work as boring. "Better bored than dead."

Tony snorted. "Says you."

I could feel a headache coming on.

"Please be serious about this, Tony."

Tony's face instantly changed, his jaw firming and his eyebrows pulling down low over his face. "I can be plenty serious when the occasion calls for it, Vito. As much as I need to learn all of this shit, you need to learn about me. At this point, you know nothing beyond the fact that at some point twenty some odd years ago, my father bumped uglies with my mother and I was the result. You know nothing about me."

"My apologies, sir." Yeah, I'd stepped into that one. "My job as your underboss is to ensure your safety and the safety of our family and organization. I did not mean to offend you."

"You didn't offend me," Tony replied. "I've been called a lot of things in my life and very few of them were good. I don't offend easily."

"Yes, sir."

I knew he was right. I knew nothing about him beyond the fact that he was Don D'Angelo's illegitimate son. If we were going to work together, I needed to learn more about him, what his capabilities were, and what I needed to teach him.

It might be the only way we'd survive this transition. The vultures were already circling, hoping to grab a piece of our organization. There was very little time to teach him what he needed to know.

"So, I'm confused about something," Tony stated. "The Borelli family and the D'Angelo family are both based in Italy, right?"

"That is correct."

"How does that work?" he asked. "I mean, do they all get along or fight or what?"

I was glad he was asking questions, but did he really have to start with this one? It was complicated even for people that had grown up in the mob.

"There are currently four families based in Italy. Each of them govern their own territories. Some of them have branched out into other countries. For example, the Borelli's have a branch of their organization in New York City while we have one in Chicago."

"Huh, I've never been to Chicago."

"There will be plenty of opportunities for you to visit in the coming months," I stated. "Since you are new to your position, it would be good for you to visit all of your territories so people can see who you are."

"Do we have branches anywhere else?"

---