Page 26 of The Rescuer

Luca showed Brian into the living-room, brewed him a cup of coffee, politely asked him to wait for a couple of minutes, and headed to his bedroom to retrieve the contract from the little safe hidden in his walk-in closet. On his way back to where the librarian was waiting for him, the man felt tears suffocating him. Instead of continuing walking, he turned around and collapsed on the bed, letting sobs rake through his body.

Luca curled into the fetal position and surrendered to despair and helplessness.There is no way I could win against Ottavio, he thought.The goddamn traitor will use every dirty trick from the manual and then some to bring me down. I should have realized it was just a matter of time until he would send another of Marcello Vergara’s sons after Martino.

Luca was ready to hand the whole Rinaldi fortune over to Ottavio and the Vergara family, and to even sacrifice his physical integrity and life. The man didn’t care what happened to him as long as Martino was safe from harm, but with those treasonous serpents, he couldn’t afford to risk it. Fighting to the end, tooth and claw, was the only option he had.

Warm, safe arms wrapped around Luca and pulled him in a tight hug, while a familiar voice was telling him everything was going to be fine. Brian. A mere librarian, with a seemingly insignificant existence, but who understood the Mafia and its Laws better than him, who was raised with those principles from the tender age of eight. He knew all the rules, played by them, and always won, even if, sometimes, he bent them a little.

“Thank you for being my friend, Brian Cavallieri.” Luca opened his eyes and gave the librarian a gratitude-filled look. “I don't know what I would have done without you.”

“I know we fought each other at first, but I think that brought us closer together. Friends and brothers. I'd do anything for you and Martino.” Brian’s voice was a mix of determination and affection. “Come on, let’s beat the fuckers at their own game.”

Back at Don Calogero’s house, the two were greeted by Malaspina, who approached the librarian. “Capo, I heard what happened, and I want to talk to you about Tanner. He's loyal and obeys your orders, and also is a good friend and comrade. I'm asking you to consider making him.” The guard balled his hands into fists. “Those dirty traitors! If it wasn’t for Tanner to tell you about their plans…”

“Yes, he needs to be welcomed among our ranks.” Bria nodded his approval, then cleared his throat. “He also needs to learn not to ask questions. You know what I mean.”

Malaspina dipped his head. “Yes, Capo. Once Tanner is made, he’ll have to study The Laws. I taught him some basic notions, but as a made man and soldier, he has to know much more.” The guard continued after a very brief pause. “Dominic and I volunteer as his guarantees. He only needs two godfathers, who must be of high rank.”

“I know you will teach him everything he needs to know.” Brian patted Malaspina on the shoulder, then stepped into the living room.

“Hello, Don Brian, everything is ready.” Dominic pointed to the sheets of paper stacked on one of the coffee tables. “This time, it was easy to replicate the type of paper the late Don Giovanni used. Now, who will write the note?”

A smile of satisfaction took some of the tension from Brian’s face and body. “Excellent, Dominic, thank you very much. Don Giovanni himself will write the letter, with a little help from me.”

“I'm here.” Luca stepped into the room, calm and composed as always, nothing in his attitude betraying the moments of vulnerability from earlier. “Are you already about to start?”

Brian gave him an encouraging smile. “Whenever Don Giovanni is. Depending on how I feel after this, one of you may be driving me home.”

Luca cleared his throat. “Here I am, my friend. I'd be happy to do that.”

“Thank you, my friend.” The smile on Brian’s face was replaced by a serious, solemn expression. “Let's start.” He looked around the room. “Don Giovanni, this is the contract. You need to write a letter based on this. It has to be dated sometime before your death.”

Silence overtook the room as Martino’s father started to guide the librarian’s hand over the white sheet of paper, filling it line after line with complicated words and phrases specific to the Old World Mafia’s juridical language. Using arguments from the Laws and the Grand Families’ history, Don Giovanni demonstrated that the blood debt the Rinaldis had on the Sforza family was older than the Vergara family’s claim.

Once he finished writing, the mafioso hugged Brian, kissed him on the forehead, blessed him, and thanked him once again for being such a great friend to his younger son and the teen’s fiancé. Unlike the other times when he used the librarian’s body to write or communicate with his family, Don Giovanni didn’t take from the man’s energy.

Head tilted backwards, Brian let out a long sigh, hoping that the letter he helped Martino’s father write would solve the dispute over the blood debts once and for all. He made a mental note to talk to Don Calogero about a document that should forbid the Vergara family to extend their claims over Martino’s bloodline.

Once that matter settled, Brian thought,Ottavio would be left without one of his main weapons and, most likely, without his most valuable ally. With all the chances of an alliance with the powerful Sforza family compromised, the Vergaras wouldn’t have any interest in supporting Don Giovanni’s firstborn and his maneuvers. At least, that’s what the librarian hoped and prayed for with all his heart.

************

A few days had passed since Brian forged the letter, and nothing happened. Tanner blamed himself for stirring things up because the rumors he heard and reported to his boss were the source of all trouble. No matter how many times the librarian tried to assure him that he did nothing wrong, the guard’s eyes were filled with a mixture of guilt and shame every time he looked in his boss’s direction.

To show Tanner how much he was needed, valued, and trusted, Brian talked to Don Calogero about welcoming him as an Old World Mafia soldier, or having him made, as the ceremony was more commonly known. With Malaspina and Dominic as guarantees, and Eugene Brentano-Fenelli and Luca as godfathers, not to mention all the times he saved Brian’s life, one way or another, the man had the best references.

Don Calogero consideredthere was no reason to delay the ceremony, so Brian asked for Ardan’s and Elias’s permission to use the guards’ headquarters as location for it, which The Base’s leaders happily agreed with. In a solemn atmosphere before his friends, co-workers, and high-ranking mafiosos, Tanner was confirmed as a soldier and Old World Mafia member.

Brian was sitting behind the counter at the library, enjoying Don Calogero’s, Luca’s, and Tanner’s company. They were recalling moments from the ceremony from two days ago when the door opened and a man in his mid-thirties, followed by another slightly older man, stepped inside. The younger one dipped his head in the Educator’s direction and gave the librarian a hard stare.

“I’m Achillio Vergara. Bring me the boy. He's mine by right, and I have papers to prove it.” Talking in an arrogant voice, he pulled an envelope from the jacket’s inside pocket and slid it over the counter.

“Not so fast, young man. The Laws say that, when the dead speak, the living must listen and obey. Don Giovanni Sforza spoke, and you will listen.” Speaking in a calm voice, Don Calogero gave Achillio the letter.

“It can't be. Don Giovanni couldn't give his son to a bastard.” Achillio stuttered as he started to read it. “This is his handwriting, but it has to be a trick. It's not possible.” He shook his head in frustration.

“You can have an expert test it.” Brian, who’d stayed silent until then, intervened. “Or, even better, why don’t you show it to The Council? I’m sure the late Don Giovanni’s friends are familiar with his handwriting.”

“I don’t remember asking you anything.” Achillio said in an arrogant voice. “What does a loser like you know about these things?”

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