Page 7 of Mafia Virgin (The Kings of Italy)

He didn’t talk much after that. We dumped his body where it wouldn’t be found by thecarabinieri. Word of his disappearance would soon get around amongst my men and serve as a deterrent to others. I wouldn’t tolerate anyone stealing from the family.

After we cleaned up, I climbed into my car and started the engine. Zani dropped into the passenger seat and pulled out his mobile. “Virga insists on meeting today,” Zani said. “I have five messages from his people.”

“Tell him no.”

“You can’t refuse him, Mo.”

“I can do whatever the fuck I want,” I corrected. “And I don’t want to see that coglione ever again.”

Since the Ravazzani meeting a few months back, Virga had hounded me. He thought he had the right to tell me what to do, but I didn’t take orders from old men. Not anymore. I had enough of that to last a lifetime.

“Virga has come to Palermo to see you. He’s here. And he’s the boss.”

“I know what he wants to discuss. The subject is closed.”

Zani exhaled heavily and tapped the side of his phone against his leg. “You’re being stubborn and it’s bad for business. He could have you killed. Replace you with one of his men.”

“He could, but he won’t. Virga tries to replace me, he has chaos on his hands.” While my father’s men hated my brother, they liked me. Maybe because I treated them like human beings, instead of dogs, as my brother had. And I controlled too much money to get rid of based solely on a whim.

Zani’s phone buzzed. “Virga’s man again. You want me to ignore it?”

“Fuck this.” I reached over, grabbed the phone out of Zani's hand, and answered it. “Buscetta.”

“Don Buscetta. How kind of you to pick up.”

The sarcasm was not lost on me. I put it on speaker so Zani could hear. “This is Buscetta. Who’s this?”

Some shuffling in the background, then Don Virga’s voice filled my car. “I expect to see you standing in front of me within the next fifteen minutes.”

I scowled at the phone. “Why?”

“Because I am telling you to.”

Che cazzo? “Today is not good. Maybe I can make time tomorrow.”

“Giacomo, this is not a request.”

“And if I say no?”

Zani dropped his head into his hands, but I ignored him. I rolled over for no man, even one as powerful as Virga.

Il capo dei capi grew quiet, then spoke softly. “Do you think I have no leverage over you, that I have come here with nothing? Eh,cretino? Ma dai, you think I don’t know about Mirabella and who is living there?”

Instantly, my muscles locked up. I heard Zani hiss through his teeth, but I kept my attention on the phone as my fingers strangled the steering wheel. I’d busted my ass to protect this secret, so how had Virga learned of it?

My jaw ached from how hard I was grinding my teeth together. I didn’t like being backed into a corner.

“Where?” I snapped.

He rattled off an address. We weren’t far. Without saying another word, I hung up on Virga and tossed the phone back to Zani.

“Mo—” Zani started.

“Don’t say it.” I couldn’t handle this conversation, not right now. As the only person I trusted, Zani knew that my sister, Viviana, was still alive. I had her well protected at Mirabella, a facility on the outskirts of the city. So how had Virga discovered this information? The entire world, including my late father and brother, believed Viviana dead. I’d purposely arranged it that way.

Zani spoke up anyway. “It wasn’t me. You know I would never tell.”

I did know this. Even under torture, Zani wouldn’t share my secrets. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t pissed off, that I didn’t want to wrap my hands around Virga’s throat and squeeze the life out of him.

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