Page 22 of Enforcer's Obsession

“What happened?” he asked, the humor of moments ago gone as if it had never existed.

“Posturing, mostly. The Genovese think you’re planning to move on their territory, so they paid a visit to the club,” I said.

“And they did not come bearing gifts, I assume?”

“If by gifts, you mean automatic gunfire, then yes, they came bearing gifts,” I said.

“Did we lose any of ours?”

I looked over at Enzo, who shook his head. “They wrecked the place, but only two casualties on our side,” he said.

“And theirs?” the boss asked.

“Four. So far,” I said.

“You intend to escalate this?” Don Carlo asked.

“No, I simply intend to respond in kind,” I said.

Carlo looked away, then shook his head.

“Nico, now is the time for cooler heads,” he said.

I didn’t contradict him, though I wanted to.

“What you mean, boss?” I asked instead.

My gut churned, but I knew my role in the family, and this was a part of it.

Playing the stupid, lost boy the way I had for years.

“This…provocation is an attempt to get us to act irrationally,” he said.

“So the same thing they were doing when they attacked the warehouse?” I asked, referring to an attack on one of our key warehouses three weeks ago.

It was an accusation dressed as a question.

I knew it, and so did the boss.

So did Enzo.

But like always, we pretended.

“Exactly. The Genovese are trying to provoke us into reacting in a way that is not beneficial. We can’t allow that,” Don Carlo said.

It was bullshit.

What the Genovese were doing was engaging in a full-on attack against the sanctity of the Moretti family, and they were banking on the fact that Don Carlo wouldn’t respond.

For years, for decades, really, I had walked this tight rope, working as quietly as I could to ensure that the family was protected, while the boss saved face.

I didn’t know how much longer I’d be able to keep it up.

Because if the Moretti family didn’t respond now, the Genovese would smell blood in the water.

And they would seize on it.

“If they lost four of theirs, that should be warning enough,” Don Carlo said.

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