Page 9 of Ruthless Vow
“Of course.” He lets the silence breathe. “But a Don without a wife, so soon after taking over. People talk, Dante.”
My first name. A test.
“Let them.”
“Your father was a great man. No one disputes that.” The sympathy thickens. Performed. “But the last few years, the family had been drifting. Some said the reins slipped before Salvatore passed.”
My back teeth grind. He’s not wrong. But hearing it come out of his mouth makes me want to reach through the phone and close my hand around his throat until he stops making sound.
“If you need guidance,” he continues, “the families would be happy to provide counsel.”
Counsel. That’s what they’re calling it now.Cazzo.
They want to carve us up while the dirt on the grave is still fresh. I should fly to Chicago tonight and gut this son of a bitch in his own dining room. Hang him from his chandelier and let the council find him in the morning.
I won’t. Not yet. But I won’t forget this call, either.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I let my voice go flat. “Was there something specific, Don Russo? I have a shipment to reroute and three soldiers to locate. The empire runs whether I’m grieving or not.”
A pause. I’ve surprised him. Good.
“Of course,” he says. Colder now. “We’re here if you need us.”
The line goes dead.
I set the phone down. Don’t throw it. Don’t let Renzo see how much I want to put it through the goddamn wall.
Romano glances over. “Russo?”
“Testing the fences.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I’m busy running an empire. Same as yesterday. Same as tomorrow.” I pick up the pen again. Sign another form. “He’ll test me again. They all will.”
“And when they do?”
“Then they’ll learn that the new Don has teeth.” I look up. Hold his gaze. “And that I bite harder than my father ever did.”
Romano’s mouth curves. “Your father would be proud.”
Would he? I stopped giving a damn about that years ago.
But I don’t say that.
“Zio Pietro’s handling the legitimate side,” Romano continues. “Whatever happens with the marriage situation, the foundation holds.”
The marriage situation.
Elena Neri. A face I can’t pull from the engagement photos. A name on contracts I signed without looking twice. She ran two days before the wedding because she saw what I was and couldn’t stomach it.
Smart girl.
But the timing.Cristo.A Don who can’t keep a bride looks like a Don who can’t keep an empire. And after that call with Russo, every family from here to Chicago is doing the same math.
I reach for the next file. A dispute between two of our crews over territory in Treme. Money, as always. Someone wants more than their cut and thinks the transition is a good time to grab it. They’re wrong. They’ll learn that the hard way.
“Schedule a sit-down,” I tell Romano. “Both crews. Tomorrow night. I want to be there.”
