Page 117 of Mafia Kings: Dario

Dario glared at Aurelio. “And not everyone will whore themselves out for a dollar likeyou…cousin.”

Aurelio’s face showed barely restrained fury.

There was an instant crackle of tension in the room.

Adriano, Lars, and Massimo all leaned forward in their chairs.

Fausto’s men inched their hands towards the insides of their jackets.

“Boys,” Fausto said loudly as he gave Aurelio an angry look.

“I’m not yourboy,”Dario snarled.

“No, but you’re very new to your position,” Fausto replied. “Your father wouldn’t have said ‘no’ to the Turk.”

“I’m not my father.”

“That much is apparent,” Aurelio muttered.

Before Dario could respond with another insult, Niccolo jumped in. “We’ve made the decision not to deal in certain things going forward. That’s all.”

“What, you’re a bunch of angels, now?” Fausto said contemptuously. “Last I checked, the authorities would hang you for all theothercrimes you dabble in.”

“Yes, well, that’s why we own the authorities,” Dario said with a cold smile.

“Which is why I sent you the Turk. You need to shore up your territory if you want to survive. You can offer him access to the police and judges, and he can give you a steady stream of revenue. It’s a win-win proposition.”

Niccolo shook his head. “The police and judges are willing to look away when it comes to gambling and stolen goods. They won’t ignore trafficking women and drugs.”

“So throw them some more money,” Fausto said with a shrug.

“Let me be clear, Uncle,” Dario said.“Irefuse to deal with trafficking women and drugs.”

“You should go into the priesthood, then,” Fausto replied. “Maybe you could become pope. You do the ‘sanctimonious’ part extremely well.”

“Gentlemen,” Niccolo said, “this has nothing to do with the most pressing matter at hand. Members of our family were shot at yesterday. Wemustretaliate.”

“Or you’ll look weak,” Fausto said with a benevolent smile.

“Exactly.”

The older man’s smile disappeared. “You already look weak. The whole of theCosa Nostraknows you’re struggling. The wolves are salivating over what they’ll do to you. Your territory is divided – ”

“Half of which went toyou,”Dario pointed out.

“Which is why I made a deal with the Turk,” Fausto shot back. “How long can you sustain your current operations?”

“We’re fine,” Roberto said. “Better than fine, actually. We plan to expand globally into online gambling. In fact, we could be fully legitimate within two years.”

That was the first I had heard of the family’s long-term plans.

I looked at Dario in surprise.

He smiled the tiniest bit and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Fausto wasn’t convinced, though.

“You’ve been going on and on about this online gambling nonsense for five years,” he said in a bored voice. “Talk, talk, talk.”

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