Page 124 of The Hitman's Secret Baby
I frown as I read ahead. The Gottis are old world, and I know of them because I have heard my father speak of the family.
Older than the Salvatores.
Their history is bloodier, quieter, less celebrated, but more feared.
My father once spoke of them with a kind of reverence no child should hear in a man's voice.
He said they ran Monaco and parts of southern France before the old alliances fractured. That they disappeared after a series of political deals went bad, when the European families turned on each other. But here they are again.
And here Giovanni is, keeping their name tucked like a charm in his drawer.
I dig deeper.
Another clipping. This one from a business journal, dated three years ago.
A write-up on an "anonymous investor" buying up old shipping routes in the Tyrrhenian corridor—routes that used to belong to Salvatore allies.
I flip the page, and a small photo catches my eye.
A face I almost miss. Giovanni, not in a suit, not in the tailored elegance of his curated identity, but in jeans and a plain jacket, shaking hands with a man whose face I do not know but whose posture screams influence.
Beneath the image, a single caption: "Private Equity Deal Sealed in Corsica." No names. No credits. Just location.
And then I find the final drawer.
The one with the false bottom.
It doesn't open easily. I have to feel for the ridge with my nails, pry it loose millimeter by millimeter. The panel lifts.
Inside, more papers. Not printed. Not formal. Handwritten notes, folded in half, their edges worn. I spread them carefully across the desk and begin to read.
Most are innocuous at first. Mentions of shipments. Mentions of names I don't recognize.
But then I see the name of Cesare Gotti, the head of the Gotti family.
Thirty years ago, Cesare Gotti tried to forge an alliance with Luca Salvatore, seeing the Salvatores as a natural southern stronghold to expand Gotti influence into mainland Italy.
The offer came in the form of a marriage proposal between Gotti's eldest niece and one of Luca's younger brothers, along with a proposal to share weapons routes and intelligence networks.
But Luca Salvatore refused.
He didn't trust Cesare's quiet power.
Rumors had reached him that the Gottis had betrayed two other allies before—selling secrets to foreign governments and laundering funds through military ports.
Luca saw the alliance for what it was: a slow invasion.
So, he struck first.
Luca orchestrated a brutal takedown.
Over the course of a single winter, the Salvatore network wiped out every visible Gotti foothold across Valleria and the eastern coasts.
Ports were seized.
Gotti men disappeared.
Ships were sunk.
