Page 35 of Gianni DeLuca

“Gentleman,” he greeted, tipping his black fedora like we were waiting for him in a conference room. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Where are your men?”

He gestured around him. “They’re here with orders to kill every single last one of you if anything happens to me.”

“Give me my money, and nothing will happen.”

Wisdom laughed aloud. “I stole money from Gianni DeLuca, and I walk away unharmed if I return it? That’s unlikely. The minute I give you your money, I’m a dead man.”

“Where’s my money?”

“Aren’t you curious why I stole money to get your attention?”

“I don’t give-

“Tauren. Lil Pook. Serop. Remember their mothafucking names.” Wisdom demanded. He then pointed at me. “I was told that Gianni was a man of his word. Yet, he made a deal with me and, five days later, dropped three of my corner boys when they started working in Algiers and Treme. Tauren. Lil Pook. Serop.”

Although I heard a hitch in Roberto’s breath, I continued speaking, “We didn’t kill anyone. When I gave you the territories, I asked my men to clear that area. Sorry for your loss, but it wasn’t us.”

“A fucking lie. Three of my men are dead, and someone has to pay. An eye for an eye.”

“What are you saying?”

“If you want your money back, we have to kill three of yours.” Wisdom kept his hands by his side and seemed utterly comfortable facing angry men with guns by himself.

Roberto barked, “Or we just blow up your club.”

I shot Roberto a searing glance.

Wisdom grinned and placed his hands in his pockets. “Blow it the fuck up. Tonight is college night, and most of those student looks like you. Go ahead and see how fast your police friends and political connections turn against you for murdering their children.“ He then looked at me shaking his head. “You got a dumb mothafucka on your hands.”

Roberto tried to step forward, and I gripped his forearm. “Stand down now.”

Although he obeyed, he spewed, “That nigga can’t just talk to me like that.

“Call me nigga all day if it makes your dick hard.” He looked back at me. “Money is inside. If you can’t choose three men, then I want control of the Quarter. Your choice.”

“I need to see the money first.” I had to stall for time. No fucking way, I would be blackmailed with my money to give up my most profitable territory, which had been in the Italian mafia for more than a century.

“Understood.” Wisdom walked toward the warehouse and said smoothly, “Shooting me in the back is a cowardly move.”

A second too late, I realized that Wisdom had moved away to give his men a clear shot of me, Roberto, and us. I yelled for my men to start shooting as a man went down directly behind me. I quickly ran low and ducked behind my car as gunfire lit the starry night. I peeked through my driver’s window, grateful for the bulletproof glass casing the whole scene. Because of the darkness, I could see the direction of the gunfire from the Desire Crew. As I suspected, several men were on the roof, while others shot from the warehouse's windows. I had to get inside the warehouse. I waved my hands, urging my men to move forward while spraying bullets. Three of his men had already fallen from the roof and one backward. Roberto was nowhere in sight, and Wisdom seemingly vanished into the night. I snatched an automatic from my soldier, who had been the first casualty. With a fearlessness that always prevailed in times of imminent danger, I shot my way through the onslaught until I made it to the large door. More bullets blazed left and right once we were in the warehouse. A couple of my men dropped, and several of his fell. I barely glanced at the deaths around me because I wasn’t stopping until I was face to face with Wisdom, whether he was alive or dead.

Chapter Twenty-One

---