Page 17 of Saint Of Envy
“That may be true,” Gabriel points out, “but they have a mutual contempt for you and Vincent, and even if they each have their own self-serving motives, they have a common goal. Their combined resources aren’t a small matter, Luc. They want to overthrow your family.”
“That’s nothing new,” I remind him. “Angelo Barone has wanted to destroy this family ever since Vincent first came into power.”
“True, but Leonardo Conti didn’t. You’ve now given them reason to team up against us, and I think that the intensifying threat means that we should fortify our defenses here. Of the two foes, one is formidable, but both? I don’t know, man—I think we might be in over our heads with this now.”
I don’t discount his warning, but I also don’t want to overreact preemptively. Sometimes, Gabriel has a tendency to exaggerate the severity of things, and I don’t think that the Barone and Conti families teaming up means the end of the world. Yes, it’s definitely not good, but I still think that I can handle it.
“How did you hear about all of this, anyway?” I ask, curious about how reliable Gabriel’s sources are.
“Leonardo sent a package here to the bar,” he says, to my surprise.
“What kind of package?”
“A gift—for Valentina.”
Instantly, my back raises when I hear Leonardo has attempted to contact her. “Why wasn’t I notified?”
“You just were,” he says, snider than I’ve heard him speak to me before. “I had one guy take it up to her a little while ago.”
“What? What if there was something dangerous in that package, Gabriel?” Now, I’m angry—angry that someone didn’t notify me immediately about any communication intended for Valentina, and angry that Gabriel was stupid enough to let a package from Leonardo Conti enter this building.
“Relax, I had it examined. The only things inside were a necklace and a note.”
“What did the note say?” I demand to know.
“That’s between you and your girl to work out. The delivery made me curious about what Leonardo is up to, so I reached out and asked around my bartending circles in the city to see what I could find out. That’s how I found out about his involvement with Angelo Barone,” he explains. “Turns out that Leonardo and Angelo have been having secret meetings in the city.”
“Hang on a second,” I say as I shift my anger to a keen focus on the escalating situation. “Leonardo is back in Vegas?”
“Yeah, of course he is. You didn’t think he was going to stay in Italy after that botched wedding, did you? He’s been back for a while and just been lying low. Angelo has been lying low too, but my sources could track him to several meetings with Leonardo and the Conti crew this past week. They’re up to something.”
“What are the meetings about?” I ask. “Can any of your sources get inside or get close enough to hear what’s being said?”
“No. But one guy heard Angelo talking at the bar last night. He wasn’t able to get a lot of details, but whatever they’re up to, it’s big.”
“How do you know?”
“Because,” Gabriel says as he lowers his voice to a hush. “I’ve never seen my sources shaken before, but this time, my bartender friend could barely get the sentence out. He stated that Barone’s entire crew was heavily armed, and the whispers now carry a different tone.”
“What kind of vibe?” I ask. “I don’t want to go basing my next actions on rumors and vibes. Gabriel, I need to know specifics.”
“Well, I don’t have specifics,” he grunts. “You try being an informant to the mafia and see how well it plays out for you. Listen, Luc, I’m telling you that things are bad. Whatever Leonardo is planning, it will not be good. You need to notify Vincent.”
“No, I can handle this on my own.”
“I think that’s a mistake,” he insists.
In all the years that Gabriel has been feeding me confidential information, he’s never once questioned me or my methods on handling things. This is a first, and it doesn’t sit well with me at all.
“Are you questioning my ability to handle things in Vincent’s absence?” I asked him point-blank. I sense Gabriel’s sudden conflict, and considering my long history of trusting him as a reliable spy, I expect a new, unexpected conflict between us.
“I think you can handle yourself just fine,” he says with a sigh. “And I think you can protect Valentina just fine, too. But what I worry about, Luc, if I’m to be straight with you—is that the joint force of both the Barone and the Conti crew coming at our guys will be too much for any of us to handle. I think Vincent deservesto know. He’s the Don, after all, and this is going to explode in front of his face. If you don’t notify him, then I will.”
It's the first time that Gabriel has ever challenged my position on how to handle something, and the first time that he has ever threatened to betray our confidence. I can’t tell whether he’s doing it out of a sort of noble attempt to save me from what might be my own clouded judgment, or whether he’s got his own interests in mind. Either way, I don’t like it. That said, Gabriel is probably right—it’s time for me to let Vincent know what is going on here in Vegas.
CHAPTER 11
LUC
