Page 157 of The Enforcer's Revenge
Tino set the binoculars down after Rocco opened the limo door for the Don. The old man crawled into the back seat, and Monte followed him. When Rocco closed the door, Tino saw the Moretti Borgata’s longtime limo driver and muscle man glance up. Rocco looked directly at the apartment window pointedly, as if he knew he was being watched.
Tino glanced at Tony again, because it was pretty obvious where Tony got his information about this meeting.
“Rocco’s cool,” Tony assured him. “You know he’s loyal. He’d take a bullet for the Zu.”
Tino wasn’t so sure.
He liked Rocco.
But he didn’t trust anyone fully.
He hadn’t for a long time now.
Tino stood when Rocco got into the driver’s seat. He watched until the limo started pulling away from the curb and Aristov walked back into the health food store.
Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the cash. He slipped his money clip off it and handed it to Canner. The crew leader was thirty at most, with short dark hair. He was shorter than Tino, but had the strong, wiry build of a man who clearly worked hard for a living.
Canner took it quickly, his eyes lighting up at the stack of hundreds Tino handed him in exchange for his silence. He even had the balls to unfold the bills like he was going to count it in front of them. Tino just arched an eyebrow, waiting to see if he would actually do it.
“He’s good for it,” Tony growled, the insult heavy in his voice. “If he says it’s five gs, that’s how much it is. He doesn’t need to screw you for a few bills. That’s not how we work.”
“Right, sorry.” Canner stuffed the money into his pocket, still looking hesitant as he glanced back and forth between them.
Tino knew what he was waiting for, but instead he said, “I know you don’t like Aristov. Money’s not the only reason you agreed to help us. There’s a lotta tension between your crew and the Russians, and you said, ‘yes,’ pretty fucking fast. You want him to die.”
“He takes thirty-five percent of everything. Not of the profit, off the top,” Canner explained quickly. “My family has had this restaurant since we moved here when I was five. My father spent over twenty years building it up, and we’re fighting not to lose everything. Aristov is the reason I’m a criminal. It’s the only way I can stay in business. I work every day, and that’s not the only thing he’s done to my family. I can’t say out loud what else he’s done. It’s too horrible. You wouldn’t fucking believe. It’s the stuff of nightmares, and we’re not the only family that’s suffered like this because of him.”
“I might believe it. I’ve been in this business a while. I was born into it. I’ll believe almost anything at this point, and thirty-five is high if you’re not getting anything back for it,” Tino agreed with him. “Last I checked, we only charge twenty, and with our connections and talents, our associates always start making much more than it costs them. Arrangements like that are supposed to benefit everyone.”
“Are you offering?” Canner asked hopefully.
“Usually, the answer would be, absolutely not. This place is not worth a war with the Bratva, but Aristov made a mistake we can’t forgive. That means you might be in the right place, at the exact right time for a war we didn’t start, but we definitely plan to finish,” Tino said with another pointed look. “And that could work out for you, Canner.”
“Tell me what I need to do. I’ll do anything, Mr. Moretti.”
“Well, if Aristov and the power players in his crew all happened to meet with an accident.” Tino shrugged and looked around the apartment. “That would clear the way for a newboss in your area. I can tell you’re a hard-working guy. You got hustle. You’re leading a crew. You got your business going in the back, but even still, typically, it’d be impossible for you take over. You were born in this neighborhood. You know that more than we do. You have a lotta Russian neighbors with connections to the Bratva. The only way it’ll work out for you is to have a partnership with another organization, one powerful enough to discourage your Bratva neighbors from getting ambitious. Now if that happened, if the Morettis took a vested interest in your success, if our muscle became your muscle.” He gestured back to Tony, who was easily the most impressive example of Sicilian muscle in the city. “This neighborhood could start being a lot more Turkish-friendly. How nice for your crew and all your Eastern European neighbors that you’ve banded together with, provided you’re a better leader than the Russians?”
“You’d do that?” Canner asked hopefully. “You’d take on the Russians for us?”
“A lot of things would have to work in your favor.” Tino didn’t want him to get his hopes up for nothing. There were a lot of moving parts, but that Russian motherfucker did try to have Nova killed. If the Don knew or not, that still made Aristov the next step. Tino was either going to take him down or die trying, and he had taken care of much bigger problems than Nikolai Aristov. “First thing you have to remember is, I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for me because Aristov made a mistake and fucked with the wrong side of the Moretti family. That’s probably something you should remember. We’re notoriously unforgiving about it, but in the meantime, if you play all your cards right, the enemy or your enemy is now your new best friend.”
“And you only charge twenty?” Canner clarified. “For your protection?”
“That’s really my brother’s side of the business. It could be twenty-five. I don’t fucking know. That’s accountant stuff, buthe always makes sure their profits go up enough to more than cover it. The fee doesn’t really matter, because you’ll be making so much more than before you went into business with us.” Tino gave him a look, and told him honestly, “We have people begging to work with us, not the other way around. There are Italians who would give their left nut for half of what I’m offering you.”
“I understand.” Canner nodded quickly. “I’d be very honored to be partnered with your family.”
“So, here’s the deal. If you stay committed to making sure everything goes my way, and you’re loyal to us. I’ll make it happen for you,” Tino promised, knowing this guy’s life was about to change. For someone who worked as hard as Canner, it was the equivalent of handing him an underworld lottery ticket. “You’ll have my word.”
“I’ll do whatever you want,” Canner said quickly. “I know who your family is, but I think I know who you are too. Both of you. You have another friend. I heard there were three Italian gangsters, and sometimes four, who solvecertain problemsfor people. Very specific problems, ones bigger than mine, I know, but you’re here and I have to know.”
Tino frowned at that.
He looked back at Tony, who asked, “Where’d you hear that, son?”
“I’ve had reasons to be looking for help. I’ve been searching for over a year, and I have a lot of connections underground. I’ve heard the stories. If you are those Italians, I think God put you on our doorstep.” He put a hand over his heart, sounding like he meant it. “It’s not even about my business or power. If you’ll get rid of Aristov, I’ll do whatever you need from me. I don’t even want your money. I shouldn’t have taken it. We do need it, but still?—”
He pulled the money out of his pocket and tried to hand it back, but Tony put up a hand, stopping him. “You can’t do that. It’s an insult.”
