Page 50 of La Dolce Vita

"What's done is done, Lorenzo," Nico spoke up as Umberto lowered his gaze in respect. "Our job is not to question Giovanni, but to enforce."

"That's your fucking job!" Lorenzo said to Nico. "My job is to be Gio's best man as well as his gun. Or has that changed, Gio? Am I just an enforcer now, nothing more? And if it has changed then I want to know why. What have I done? I'm useless if you are out there conducting meetings without me. The drugs in and out of the Bay is my deal. But you take meetings with Benicia without me. What the fuck can I do?"

"Find the bitch that tried to kill my wife," Giovanni answered in a leveled tone.

Lorenzo’s eyes stretched. "You blame me for Isabella?"

"I blame all of you. I blame myself. I blame Flavio and Rocco. I blame your mother who gave birth to her, and Marsuvio Mancini for protecting her. I blame her. I want theputtanadead. And if you were truly my gun, the best of my men, I wouldn't have to tell you this."

"I'm looking for her, trust me," Lorenzo replied.

"By sending Renaldo out there to chase her shadow in Roma?" Giovanni asked. "Yeah, you're looking. Do you want to know why we are always here, cousin? Always me not trusting you? And you are scrambling for my respect? Do you?"

Lorenzo glanced to Nico and then Umberto. The men stared him down. His bravado faded. Giovanni knew Lorenzo couldn't stomach being chastised in front of men he thought should be beneath him.

"Why don't you trust me, Gio? After everything? Why?" Lorenzo asked.

"Because when my gut is in charge and not my emotions I see through you cousin." Giovanni sat forward. He tossed the cigar into the crystal ashtray. He leveled his violet-blue gaze on his cousin and tracked every flicker of emotion within his unwavering gaze. "And deep in my gut, I know you found out more than you've told me about this woman. Just as you knew more about Giuseppe Calderone, and Mottola."

"How? How do I know more? I've never conspired against you," Lorenzo said.

"I believe that. It's not a conspiracy I see. It's envy; it's restless envy that makes you blind to our enemies. As blind as I have ever been."

Lorenzo glanced to the men and back to Giovanni. His face drained of blood. "You have no fucking idea how loyal I am to you! How loyal I have been! Always!" Lorenzo shouted. The men tensed, and Lorenzo had to reign in his temper. He wiped his hand down his face and exhaled slowly.

"Madrenever said she had a bastard. Flavio never confided in me. He hated me! Rocco?" Lorenzo laughed. "Rocco has kept secrets since he was kicked out of the family and banished to Chianti byPatri. How the am I the envious one?"

Dominic hung up the phone and joined the men. Giovanni glanced over and then back to his cousin.

"It's done, Gio," Dominic said.

Lorenzo exchanged a look between the men. "What's done?"

Dominic put a hand on Lorenzo's shoulder that indicated he should be silent. Giovanni stood. The other men remained seated. He faced them all. "Lorenzo asked what will be the future? The future is us. The men in this room. The future isCamorra,and the future will now be the Mafiosi, everything belonging to this family. So, I guess you want to know how."

The men looked on stunned. No one could speak, not even Lorenzo.

"It is not won by dealing in drugs," Giovanni spat. He walked away from the men. "Though guns and drugs are a part ofla Camorranow. That will never be our future."

"In two days the clan bosses will meet with Giovanni and Lorenzo in Chianti," Dominic said.

"Two days?" Lorenzo asked.

"Umberto, after the meeting I want you and Renaldo here in Napoli. Don Tacchini will need our help in Secondigliano, Scampi, and Milano. How many men can we put to this?"

Umberto glanced to Nico and then to Giovanni. "We need at leastdiciotto,Boss. Maybe twenty. There are problems in the Scampi that Tacchini needs to contain. Migrants arrive daily. He takes advantage of their desperation. It's drawn the attention of the authorities."

“Tacchini has it under control," Giovanni said. Out of everyone Tacchini is the most loyal. A true friend. He glanced over to Nico. "Feel out the other men under the clan bosses. Let’s see who our true allies are."

"What are we talking about here, Gio?" Lorenzo interjected. Dominic squeezed Lorenzo's shoulder. He sat back and fell silent.

"This is your moment, cousin. The moment you've been waiting for. Starting tonight. Call the family and make arrangements to move them out of Sicilia. Then pay Armando a visit. Tell him that I intend to go public about our wives."

Lorenzo’s eyes stretched.

"He wanted a price. Here it is. Eighty million lire before the end of the month or I go to the Dons of Sicily to officially take what belongs to me, and the collection will be a public one."

A smile spread across Lorenzo's lips. Giovanni could see the joy in his eyes.

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