Page 26 of Labria

“Please, Mr. Bregoli, please don’t.” Fear radiated in her eyes and mangled her youthful face. “I don’t want to make him mad. I just want to have your permission to leave town. I can find a job on my own.” Her body trembled in the chair.

“Farrah, I will take care of this.”

Nicco stood and walked around his desk to stand in front of the girl. He pulled her to standing and wrapped his arms around her. She fell into his chest and cried out loud enough to wake the baby. But the baby only stirred and stretched in the stroller.

The Don stroked Farrah’s fiery red hair in a calming paternal way that made me think of his daughter Kelly. He didn’t talk much about her, but he didn’t talk much about his boys either.

“It’s okay. I will make sure you are safe.” He confidently stated when he knew his uncle was a wild card.

I’m sure Nicco meant it. But Uncle Gianni was too unpredictable. He was still mad about losing his position as consigliere. He’d been a constant pain since he was retired from his position.

My brother remained calm on the surface. I was sure this turn of events enraged Nicco. He had spoken to Gianni about his annoying behavior with female employees. Even I had spoken to Gianni about the ladies after Nicco told me to scold him. Gianni had an affinity for the pretty young girls. He was ordered to stay away from this particular casino employee long before I was a part of the organization. I’d heard this story but didn’t know the actual girl.

This scandal with Farrah had happened over more than a year ago. Gianni was a deviant physical abuser of women. He was what news reporters would call a violent sex offender.

Nicco was accustomed to cleaning up his sex crimes, but now that Nicco’s father was dead, he didn’t have the patience for his uncle’s sick proclivities.

Gianni had been sexually assaulting women for decades, and Nicco was over his bullshit. We did bad things in this organization but we didn’t mutilate women for sport. I’m sure it was one of the reasons he dismissed him from his role as consigliere. He was more trouble than he was worth. Gianni seemed pretty damn worthless, in my opinion.

Nicco told me Farrah was a dealer at the blackjack table and a loyal employee. That didn’t stop Uncle Gianni from stalking her relentlessly and physically assaulting her in her apartment. He beat her so badly her face was unrecognizable. I’d been shown the gruesome pictures. They were horrid. She needed stitches in her face. He burnt her arms and torso. He broke her nose. The fucking animal even bit her on her buttocks. I was disgusted by the violence he inflicted on this girl. Farrah was too young for this trauma. She was almost twenty-three when this happened. She was probably a year or so older now. Seeing the pictures of the brutality could be the reason I didn’t recognize her when she walked into Nicco’s office.

Nicco took care of the situation when he was underboss. He arranged for private and discreet medical care for Harrah. He paid the medical bills and paid for a nose job and the plastic surgery to repair the external things Gianni defaced. Nicco also gave Farrah 10k in hush money before and another 10k after this crime produced a child. This was the part of the Bregoli Mafioso family that I loathed. This unwavering loyalty to the family, even if the family was a poisonous snake.

Gianni was becoming a loose cannon. Or should I say looser cannon? He probably had always been that way, but it had been swept under the rug. He was defiant. He clearly hated me because I was the new one in the organization that shook things up with my presence. I’m sure he hated me because I wasn’t a full-blooded Sicilian.

Regardless, I ranked above him. At Nicco’s request, I ordered him to stay away from the women employees and he defied me. I wanted to break both of his legs, but this was a family member. As far as I was concerned, Gianni was not my family. Maybe Nicco and Cenzo cared about this sexual predator. I did not.

The tears and consoling went on for a time. Nicco smoothed Farrah’s hair back behind her ears. He cupped her freckled cheeks and kissed her forehead.

He had given her enough of his concern. It was time to send her on her way. She thanked him profusely, and I walked her to the door as she pushed her child away in the stroller. That little baby boy was a Bregoli by blood, but I was sure he had the last name of his mother. Things like this were always kept in the shadows.

I closed the door behind Farrah. “You can send her to one of your casinos in Chicago.” I suggested. “Frankie can look out for her.”

“That’s what I was thinking, but Frankie is babysitting Melissa Capriani.” Nicco sat on the edge of his desk. “I don’t like the way this is going with Gianni.”

“He’s disrespecting your direct orders.” Cenzo finally spoke on it.

“True. This is our father’s brother. He is Maurizio’s father. As much as I would like to erase him, I can’t kill him.”

“He is becoming a liability.” I added. “He doesn’t believe the rules apply to him and that illusion will blow up in our faces sooner rather than later.” Our, why did I say our?

Cenzo cleared his throat. “Lord is right. He’s a ticking time bomb. If one of these women goes to the police before we silence her, it will bring prying eyes on the entire organization. We know he’s killed women in the past. When father was alive, he called me to get rid of a few bodies for Gianni. He’s been doing this shit for decades. He’s a serial killer. I will follow your orders, Nicco, but I don’t want to clean up after that sick motherfucker anymore.”

I couldn’t believe how much Cenzo had to say on this topic.

“I’m never going to ask you to kill our uncle.” Nicco guaranteed him. “I’m going to make sure he stops even if I have to cut his balls off and feed them to him in a fucking cannoli. This is a new era for us. This is just the kind of shit the Feds can get wind of and start an entire investigation.”

“I agree. Rape, missing persons, murder. We don’t need this kind of heat.” I added.

“Right.” Nicco pursed his lips. “It’s a good thing Farrah called me instead of the police. I will give her a little extra for not being a snitch. The pretty girls attract the men with money and if word gets out that I don’t protect my female employees, that affects the business.”

“You can send him far away.” Cenzo suggested. “Send him to Italy and make him someone else’s problem. “

“If I do that, the rape cases and bodies will just pile up in Palermo.” Nicco proclaimed.

“Not our problem. He’s not going to go willingly.” I said.

“That’s not a problem.” Cenzo got that psycho killer glint in his eyes. “I can drug him and get him on a plane and then he can be someone else problem. He holds no position in this organization anymore. Maybe you can’t kill him, but you can banish him.” Cenzo added.

---