Page 94 of Carnal

Papà pats him on the shoulder. "Achille." Papà gets in, and I follow.

He turns toward me. "It's important you don't lose your cool today, Tristano."

"Why would I?"

Papà hesitates then answers, "Things can get heated. The more we don't react, the better."

I take my Glock and slide it under the seat. Anger flares as the vision of Biagio palming Pina's ass pops up in my mind. I inquire, "Jacopo's going to try and downplay what Biagio did, isn't he?"

"Probably."

"I thought you already met about it."

"We did."

"So why call another meeting?"

Papà crosses his arms. "There's a reason I didn't take your other brothers, especially Dante."

"Which is?"

Papà pins his dark gaze on mine. "The security footage wasn't available when we met. Tully suggested we reconvene to review it."

I lower my voice. "Then why is Jacopo calling the meeting?"

"That's what I don't understand, either. He must have something up his sleeve. Whatever it is, I need you to keep your cool. Dante's too close to Pina to deal with this how we need to," Papà states.

Guilt eats at me about keeping my relationship with Pina a secret, but maybe it's for the better right now. If Papà knew about us, there's no way I'd be allowed in the meeting. And it's refreshing to actually do something I'm normally not allowed to.

We don't talk the rest of the ride. When we pull up to the restaurant, we go inside. The hostess takes us to the back and into a private room. A few dozen men fill the space. All the heads of the families are here, including Jacopo and Biagio.

Across the table from them, Tully and his son Brody nod at us. There are two empty seats. Papà sits next to Tully, and I take the other seat.

Several servers place crocks of French onion soup and plates of Caesar salad in front of everyone. There are bottles of wine on the table, but most of the men drink hard liquor. Papà orders two sambucas, and we get served quickly.

As soon as the servers disappear, Sergio, the head bouncer of the sex club, shuts the door. He taps on his glass and the room turns quiet. He pins his deadly gaze on each of us, taking his time to assess everyone. He finally states, "The club cannot exist if rules are not followed."

All the men in the room except Jacopo and Biagio nod.

Sergio crosses his arms, scowling at Biagio. "We need to finalize the consequences for what occurred at the club. Let's review the recording again before we discuss what those shall be."

Biagio's face hardens and the vein near his eye twitches.

Sergio motions for Kelso, another bouncer, to turn on the TV. He obeys and hits play.

Pina's face appears on the screen. My hands turn to fists and my heart thumps harder as Biagio steps behind her. He grabs her ass, and shock fills her expression. She turns, and he closes the gap between them.

Rubio appears, followed soon after by Dante and Gianni, but I can't tear my eyes off Pina's scared expression. My pulse skyrockets, making my insides shake with rage. I glance at Biagio's arrogant face and almost rise, but Papà puts his hand on my thigh.

I turn toward him. He doesn't look at me, continuing to watch the footage.

When the video is over, Kelso turns the TV off. Tense silence fills the air. Papà and I leer across the room at Jacopo and Biagio.

Sergio speaks first. "It's clear Biagio was out of line. This unacceptable behavior cannot be tolerated. I put forth to the council that he has a three-month suspension."

Biagio snorts. "Fat chance."

"You were out of line," Szymon Kowalczyk, head of the Polish mafia, accuses. While the Kowalczyks aren't what I'd call our allies, I also wouldn't call them our enemies. We do business with them from time to time, but nothing formal has ever been created between our families.

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