Page 81 of Mafia Kings: Valentino

“No, that’s just where we’re meeting.”

“Why didn’t we fly onto his property?”

“Because no one knows for sure where it is, and he probably doesn’t want us to know. One more lesson: Sicilians are famously paranoid.”

“You would be, too,” the driver said in a grumpy voice, “if everybody tried to kill you all the time.”

“Agreed,” Niccolo said pleasantly, then gave me a look.See? Be careful what you say.

We drove for 20 minutes along the coast. Once we got off the highway, we started down winding streets bordered by tan residential buildings. The two- and three-story ones looked like they were a couple of centuries old, but the taller apartment buildings might have been built in the last few decades.

It wasn’t the best neighborhood. A lot of the buildings looked rundown, and there were piles of garbage along the street. Cement walls along the road were plastered with tacky billboards for grocery stores and car dealerships.

If this guy wants to meet HERE,I thought,I don’t see how he’s the richest man in the Cosa Nostra.

I had to eat my words. The rundown neighborhood gave way to a nicer area, and the car pulled up to a huge hotel that sat behind a tan wall with metal gates.

A white-gloved porter let us in, and we parked in front of the lobby.

I noticed a couple of things.

Number one: the valets eyed our car nervously and kept their distance.

Number two: when the driver got out, nobody came over to take the keys from him or drive the car somewhere else. Apparently he was just going to leave it there, and nobody was going to say otherwise.

Number three: when Nic and I got out, the driver didn’t make the slightest effort to open our doors for us.

Not that I cared; I wasn’t a spoiled little rich boy who needed my car door held open for me. But it was interesting that the driver genuinely didn’t seem to give a fuck about offending us.

He led the way into the lobby, which was insane.

InThe Godfather Part II,Michael Corleone goes to Cuba to see another gangster about investing in Havana casinos. The problem is that he goes at the end of 1958, just as Fidel Castro’s forces are about to seize control and turn the island communist.

Anyway, the hotel in the movie is amazing: beautiful, huge, and built over a hundred years ago with a lot of old-world charm and luxury.

That’s whatthishotel reminded me of: the Cuban hotel inThe Godfather Part II.It looked like somebody had transported it right from the film into modern-day Palermo. The polished wooden check-in desks… the plush red-and-gold carpet… the white hallways and high-arched doorways.

The driver led us past all that and down the hall.

I noticed once again that all the desk workers and bellhops glanced nervously at us as we passed. Still, nobody said anything or even smiled in greeting.

Apparently they knew we were there for Don Vicari…

And they knew who – and what – he was.

The driver ushered us into an elevator made of dark wood and brass trimmings. When we got out on the fourth floor, wewalked down the luxurious hallway past a dozen rooms until we reached a couple of big-ass doors. On the wall was a brass plaque engraved with the wordsLa Suite Presidenziale –The Presidential Suite.

The driver knocked twice.

At the same time, Niccolo flashed me a look:Don’t do anything stupid.

Then the door opened, and we walked into a completely different world.

Half a dozen guys stood around in the foyer of a giant suite. They ranged from my age to late 40s, and they all wore suits that were either cheap or a decade out of style.

These guysdefinitelydidn’t give a shit about fashion.

A couple of them patted me and Niccolo down. Satisfied that we weren’t carrying, they led us through another set of doors…

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