Page 42 of Enforcer's Obsession

“You know why we’re here?” I said, looking at each man for a moment before moving to the next.

“The Genovese,” Alessandro, one of the older members of the Moretti family said.

“Yes, so stay on your toes and make sure your crews are in order. We don’t know what other shit they’re going to pull,” I said.

“We’ll be ready for it,” Alessandro said.

“I know,” I responded.

The men nodded and after a few more minutes of conversation, they started to disperse.

“Not even going to pick up a fucking broom, huh?” I said to Alessandro as he headed toward the door.

He smacked me on the shoulder with a huge grin on his face. “See you later, Nico.”

Then he joined the crowd of men as they filed out ofCarlo’s.

“There’s still a lot to do here,” I said.

Enzo nodded. “Yeah, but Giacobbe assures us to be done by tomorrow at the latest.”

“Any word from Don Carlo this morning?” I asked.

“You know he only calls you,” Enzo said.

It was true, and yet another example of how detached the boss was. If things were as they should have been, it would’ve been him talking to the assembled men.

At this point, none of them even bothered to ask anymore.

We all knew what the boss focused on—and what he didn’t.

And somehow—I wasn’t entirely sure how it happened—but the men had started to look to me for direction, and I felt duty-bound to give it.

It was the only way to hold this together, and I had lost too much for this family to fail.

“You set something up with the Genovese?” I asked Enzo.

He nodded. “Federico wants to have lunch atBocca,” he said.

I let out a low whistle. “Bocca? I’m impressed.”

Enzo rolled his eyes. “No the fuck you’re not. You think he’s being a pretentious dick just like I do.”

“Yeah, or he’s assuming that I want to splatter his brains all over the beautiful tableware atBocca,” I said.

“He doesn’t know you very well,” Enzo said.

“No. But he will. Let’s go,” I said.

We left and headed to the meeting with the Genovese.

ELEVEN

Nico

As I drovetoward the meeting, I knew I was in my element.

I couldn’t even imagine Don Carlo handling this kind of meeting anymore, but I was knew I was up to the task.

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